Great Wall Motors opens the first Chinese car factory in Europe

That Chinese brands are beginning to expand across the old continent is nothing new; what is new, however, is that they are producing their models on European assembly lines and with European labour.

This is the case of Great Wall Motors, which, by inaugurating the Litex Motors factory in Bulgaria, is starting production with the aim, besides instilling more confidence in its buyers, of avoiding the import duties into Europe that significantly raise the prices of its products.

Its first target is to produce 2,000 units during 2012, which will be sold exclusively in Bulgaria, with aspirations of reaching 50,000 within two years, as well as expanding its factory workforce from the current 120 to 2,000 workers.

In Great Wall Motors’ current range of vehicles we can find models such as the Voleex C10, Hover H5 and Steed 5, cars that are “inspired” (let’s put it that way) by models from other brands (the first, for instance, by the previous generation of the Toyota Yaris) and that offer somewhat more rudimentary mechanicals and finishes than the rest of manufacturers, at a lower purchase price, thereby carving out a niche in all those countries and markets whose economies and purchasing power are lower (such as the country where the first units will be sold).

Via | Xinhuanet English