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ANNIVERSARY MONTH: GWM celebrates 16 super years in Southern Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa – It may be celebrated as Sweet 16 by some but for GWM its 16th anniversary in Southern Africa in the month of July will be a Super 16 celebration – an occasion to commemorate the continued growth and success of the company that is now firmly entrenched in Mzansi and is a regular Top Ten performer on the monthly vehicle sales charts.
GWM was founded on 1 July 1990 by then 26-year-old entrepreneur Jack Wey and the Chinese giant produced its first vehicle in 1993. The Southern Africa subsidiary was established in 2007 with the arrival of the first shipment of Single Cab and Double Cab bakkies (later named Steed 5) and a multi-wagon model. Globally, GWM’s global sales continue to grow in 2022 showing that HAVAL sold 616 550 units, the Pickup range 186 715 units, TANK 123 881 units and ORA 103 996 units.
In 2017, the company’s name was changed to HAVAL Motors South Africa to symbolise an investor change and it was transformed from a national distributor to a wholly owned subsidiary of GWM, by then already with an established presence in over 60 countries. Since then, GWM has shown spectacular growth, with an improvement in sales of up to 54% Year-On-Year.
“This continued growth has firmly entrenched the brand in Mzansi and made GWM a constant Top Ten seller in the South African automotive space,” says Chief Operations Officer Conrad Groenewald. “Our customer-centric approach has also seen explosive growth in our dealer network, having now expanded locally to nearly 100 dealerships countrywide.”
He ascribed GWM’s astronomical growth to its insistence on “excessive investment" in research and development of new products, new energy (PHEV, FHEV, BEV and FCEV) and intelligent vehicles. In addition, a new technology centre and a NEV trial-production laboratory has been completed to create industry-leading technology and vehicles.
Also, GWM plays a leading role in the industry in the development of an intelligent network, with key technologies such as 5G, autopilot and V2X. GWM displayed L3 level automated driving technology to the public for the first time in 2015, and officially launched the "i-pilot" autopilot system jointly developed by China, the United States and India in 2017. In 2018, the 5G-based autonomous remote driving technology jointly developed by GWM, China Mobile and Huawei passed the test at GWM’ Xushui Testing Ground.
Groenewald further attributed the sustained growth to the expansion of local product ranges, including the new Single Cab models in the P-Series, the expansion of the model offerings in the HAVAL Jolion and H6 line-ups, and the introduction of New Energy Vehicles (NEVs), such as the newly released HAVAL H6 and HAVAL Jolion Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) models.
Monthly sales figures from The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) shows GWM has been a consistent top 10 player for the last year – and the first Chinese automotive brand in the country to achieve this. GWM intends to increase sales with exciting new models introduced during 2023.
“The imminent introduction of the flagship GWM P-Series LTD model, the eagerly awaited TANK brand and full-electric ORA models will provide further impetus to this trend,” says Groenewald. “All this augurs well for future growth, and to support this we are planning a huge Super 16 celebration in July .” While celebrating its 16 th anniversary in Southern Africa, GWM is also renewing its promise to improve little by little every day – to ensure South Africa receives the most innovative, technologically advanced, and affordable vehicles along with responsive aftersales support.
“Go With More” is the culture of the GWM brand and the company is committed to stay for the long run. This will be again showcased in this month of celebrations, supported by GWM’s extensive dealer network in South Africa, to thank all its loyal customers for their ongoing support. The public, on test driving the vehicles, will enjoy the special promotions on offer, which include being able to win family trips and much more.
