Meghana KandraChina’s Great Wall is going to enter the European market with a compact electric vehicle and a plugin hybrid. It is set to join Chinese EV makers and enter the EV market. It was announced at the IAA car show in Munish.
Image credits- Great Wall Motors
Last year, Great Wall Motors presented the cheapest electric car, set to launch in India, (as shown in the above image) Ora R1. Now the company announced its plans to enter the European market as well. By the end of 2021, Great Wall will start taking orders in Germany for Coffee 01 Plug-in SUV.
The vehicle is said to have a range of 150kms (93.2 miles). In the first half of 2022, the car will be launched under the Great Walls brand WEY. It was all announced at the IAA event. Being the first major show in the industry ever since the pandemic started, many things from many companies were announced.
The automaker is yet to announced the other European countries other than Germany where they are going to launch Coffee 01. “Brand experience center” will be launched in Munich by 2022.
Electric car
Furthermore, the automakers said that they will launch the compact electric car from another brand, ORA. (The same brand which is to be released in India). It will have a range of around 400km, and will also be launched by 2022 in Europe. By the end of 2021, people can order for ORA CAT.
However, it wasn’t mentioned if the electric car will be released in Germany like the Hybrid model. Chinese EV makers are targeting the European market, especially as Europe is popular for plug-in vehicles. Recently Nio launched in Norway with a showroom at Karl Johans gate 33 A in Oslo. Nio uses swappable battery systems, which is new to the country. Furthermore, Norway supports electric vehicles so much that more than 50% of vehicles sold are electric vehicles. It is also considered as a country to initially launch your EV and test its market potential.
It is speculated that Great Wall Motors could enter the Norway market to know where it could stand among the EV makers. When it was unveiled to Indian Market, the car was decided to be released at an affordable range of Rs. 6.2 lakhs – Rs.8 lakhs. It could come with a similar range in European market or better specifications, which would cost around 7,000 euros – 10,000 euros. This is only a prediction, once the production process starts, the features can change along with the price.