Great Wall Motors (GWM) has marked its entry into the Indian market by launching an official Indian website. The brand is likely to bring its cars to the Indian market via the CKD or CBU route. GWM has plans to acquire the General Motors production plant located in Talegaon, Maharashtra. The plans are currently on hold, but to recap, GWM plans to invest around USD 1 Billion, in a phased manner, in the Indian market. This involves the production of the GWM and Haval vehicles in India.
GWM and the Indo-Chinese Conflict
In 2020, signed an MoU (Memorandum Of Understanding) with the Government of Maharashtra and General Motors. Under the agreement, GWM was planning to invest large sums of money in developing an administrative office building, training centre, project management building, logistics distribution centre and public facilities centre.
But due to the Indo-China conflict in the Ladakh region, investments from Chinese companies were put under Scrutiny by the Government of India. The People’s Liberation Army’s martyred Indian soldiers also led to anti-China sentiments throughout the country. But currently, the situation is diffused and better than last year, and GWM could be hoping to get approvals from FDI (Foreign Direct Investments) by the second quarter. Reports also suggest that the brand could be building its leadership team already for its upcoming debut.
GWM Haval in India
The Chinese car brand Great Wall Motors (GWM) showcased its products in the Indian market at the Auto Expo 2020. The brand was planning to launch its cars in the Indian market under the GWM and Haval brands. The Haval brand specialises in SUVs, which going by the current trend, is the ‘go to’ formula to attract buyers. Haval could be planning to bring the Haval F7 and F7x to the Indian market using the top-down approach. The website also teases the F7 and F7x on the cover page. Both the SUVs debuted at the Auto Expo 2020, and appeared to be a crowd puller.
Haval F7 and F7x Design and Features
The Haval F7 is a butch SUV, while the F7x features a coupe-Esque roofline. Both cars appear similar from the front and come with features such as LED daytime running lights and LED taillights. The SUV also feature 19-inch alloy wheels, chrome bits and skid plates. The Haval F7 and F7x come with a fully digital colour instruments display, a 9-inch touchscreen infotainment system, sporty drive select lever, panoramic sunroof and a driver-oriented cockpit.
Haval F7 and F7x Engine Specifications
Haval revealed that the F7 and F7x come with a 1.5-litre T-GDI turbo-petrol engine and a 2.0-litre T-GDI turbo-petrol engine. The former produces 150 hp of power, and 280 Nm of torque and the latter makes 190 Hp of power and 340 Nm of torque. Both the engines feature a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
Also Read: Haval showcases F7 SUV and F7x SUV-Coupe at Auto Expo 2020
