The Chinese car industry has become a serious player on the world stage as its vehicles become more sophisticated, but GWM’s chairman has warned the industry against becoming arrogant and complacent.
“In fact, there is still a significant gap between Chinese automakers, including Great Wall Motors, and these outstanding companies,” Wei Jianjun said in remarks at the automaker’s annual meeting published on the Chinese news site Yiche and translated into English.
“We have to remember that the gap is not small, but very large.
“The road to automobile manufacturing is still long and we should learn from Europe, America, Japan and South Korea – hardworking, humble and practical.”
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In 2025, more than 34.5 million vehicles were produced in China, making it the world leader in new vehicle production.
Not only non-Chinese car brands are feeling the pressure in the Chinese market, but more and more Chinese car manufacturers are expanding their global presence.
However, Mr Wei reportedly warned that while Chinese automakers’ overseas expansion has been impressive, the industry still relies overwhelmingly on low prices to capture market share – something that would be unsustainable if tariffs were imposed on Chinese vehicle imports in key markets such as Europe.
This suggests that Chinese automakers’ profit margins are lower than other major global players.
There are also problems at home. The global push by Chinese automakers is driven in part by ongoing domestic overcapacity.
According to the Gasgoo Automotive Research Institute, production capacity utilization in 2024 was just 49.5 percent in an industry that could produce 55.5 million vehicles.
The Chinese market also remains dotted with a variety of players, many of which have multiple brands of their own – GWM, for example, sells vehicles under five brands in the world’s largest car market.
In his speech, Mr Wei reportedly encouraged customers to give feedback and warned employees not to ignore it.
“An individual or an organization can only make progress if they are able to criticize themselves and have the courage to take responsibility,” he reportedly said.
He cited Toyota as a specific example of an automaker to look up to.
“Toyota is one of the most well-known and high-quality companies in the world. In fact, Toyota has never stopped issuing recalls large and small,” he reportedly said.
“However, users still highly praise it because Toyota never shirks responsibility when problems arise. It takes responsibility and proactively fixes and informs users before they even notice the problem. That’s real responsibility.”
The GWM chairman also reportedly warned against price wars by Chinese automakers to boost short-term sales, calling it a form of “slow suicide.”
As Yiche notes that China’s move toward “new energy vehicles” – plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs) – has allowed it to gain independent control over the engine, battery and electronic control supplies, which was far rarer in the era of internal combustion vehicles.
GWM sold 1,323,672 vehicles in 2025, 7.3 percent more than the previous year. Production rose 5.7 percent to 1,311,329 units.
New energy vehicles accounted for 30.5 percent of total sales, although there is only one brand that sells electric vehicles – Ora – and it was the lowest volume brand with 48,289 sales in 2025, less than half the figure of the second-to-last Wey.
GWM sold 506,066 vehicles worldwide in 2025, up 11.7 percent year over year, and produces vehicles both domestically and in Thailand and Brazil for sale in over 170 countries in Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.
In Australia, 52,809 vehicles were delivered in 2025, an increase of 23.4 percent. It has become a top 10 brand in Australia, ranking ninth in 2024 and seventh in 2025.
GWM is aiming for a “sustainable top five” brand by 2030. To achieve this goal, the company is not only launching new products – including more hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles – but is also investing in local tuning.
But it is not the only Chinese brand that has made it to the top 10 and is aiming for ever better results. Last year, BYD was the eighth best-selling brand and MG came in at number 10, while Chery knocked on the door of the top 10 at number 13.
All of these brands have expressed their ambition to become bigger players in our market.
BYD aims to finish “close to the top three” in 2026, MG aims to be in the top five by 2027 and the top three by 2030, and Chery aims to be in the top five by 2027, with sister brand Omoda Jaecoo also in the top 10.
Unlike BYD and Chery, GWM is pursuing a single-brand strategy in Australia, with companies such as Tank and Haval now positioned as sub-brands. This in turn allows GWM to not only offer a wide range of different vehicles in the same showroom and optimize its marketing, but also to combine the sales results of all its vehicles.
MORE: Discover the GWM showroom
