On January 9 it was reported that Great Wall is creating a new super luxury brand. Currently it is just known by the code name BG. The brand is another attempt by a Chinese producer to create more premium cars. It will likely form Great Wallโs equivalent to BYDโs Yangwang brand.
Itโs claimed the brand will use a Great Wallโs 4.0T V8 engine. Reports of the new brand are largely centered around a post by local media outlet LatePost. Itโs claimed that products will be centered on hybrids and include supercars and sedans.
The brand will bring in experts from European luxury brands in order to gain an advantage in pairing high-power internal combustion engines with electric motors. By doing so the brand hopes to achieve technical and performance advantages.
The new brand is being headed by Great Wall chairman Wei Jianjun. Great Wallโs former vice president of technology, Song Dongxian, has been appointed to the role of CEO while Zhang Xiaobo becomes CTO.
Wei Jianjun, it was reported by people familiar with the matter, will be heavily involved in the creation of the models and engineering development of the super luxury brand. Furthermore, he will have a high degree of participation in the benchmarking and research process for some of the details.
The new brand will reportedly be targeting high-quality small-batch operations. Therefore, it will use more in the way of innovative and high-tech materials.
Currently, Great Wall has five brands: Haval, Wey, Tank, Ora, and Poer. The new brand will be aimed much higher with prices likely starting around a million yuan (136,400 USD).
It should be noted that Great Wall previously tried a more upmarket EV brand known as Saloon. The brandโs first car was meant to be the Mecha Dragon, but the brand was canceled, and despite news that the car would become an Ora model, sales have yet to begin.
Great Wall has recently been struggling. Sales in 2024 were just 1,233,292 vehicles, which is a mere 0.21% year-over-year increase. Of these, 321,795 were NEVs, an increase of 22.82% YOY.
453,141 were exported, which is an increase of 43.39% YOY. This, however, means that sales by Great Wall in China actually fell significantly in 2024, probably due to stiff competition.
Editorโs note:
The information currently available suggests that the new cars will be hybrids (HEV) rather than NEVs. In the current Chinese market landscape, this is a very brave route to take.
Sources: Fast Technology, Weibo
