Great wall motor (GWM) China’s largest SUV manufacturer made its Indian debut at the 2020 auto expo and is now planning on leaving the country. The company started its journey with the premium mid-size SUV Haval F7. The Haval F7 was one of the globally demanded offerings of the brand. The Covid-19 pandemic And India and China’s relationship over the borders had put brakes on GWM’s India entry.
The company had previously signed an agreement with GM to acquire GM India’s manufacturing facility in Talegaon, Pune. but reportedly despite making changes in their terms sheet many times they still had not received a green flag from the Indian government. So the company has decided to cancel the project worth ₹7000 crore investment. The constant tension and increasing security between the two nations have also affected the brand and delayed approvals for completely taking over the GM plant. The term sheet for the GM plant was said to expire on June 30, 2022, and the company was not able to get the request for approval. After 2 and a half years, the company decided to terminate the project.
Earlier in march Great wall motor’s director of product planning and strategy, Kaushik Ganguly resigned from his post, he was first employed in 2018 as a most senior employee of the company to make the plans for India. While, GWM’s director of sales and marketing, Hardeep Brar also hand in his resignation and joined Kia motors. According to the report, After canceling the plant deal, GWM let go of around 11 of their employees who were said to be from marketing, network, planning & strategy, service, HR & finance, and production and R&D. The fired employees were paid 3 months of surveillance compensation.
Owning major brands like Haval, Wey, Ora and Great Wall Pickup. The Chinese brand had big plans for the Indian market and had showcased the Haval H9, F7, F7X, H concept, F5, Vision 2025 concept and GWM R1 electric car at the 2020 Auto Expo. After making a major investment GWM is planning on doing business in brazil. It marks the exit of china’s top automaker Great wall motor from India. Although the company will still search for hope in India.