Great Wall Motor (GWM) sold a million-plus cars in 2022 – its seventh year in a row to do so – but unlike previous years its volume outside of China accounted for almost 20 per cent of its total.

    The rapidly proliferating carmaker from Baoding sold a claimed 173,180 cars last year in “overseas markets”, from its GWM Pickup, Haval, Ora, Tank and Wey brands. That’s up 21 per cent year-on-year.

    Cumulative exports outside of China have now topped one million units, the company claims.

    Driving the growth was SUV-focused GWM Haval with 616,550 sales in 2022, ahead of GWM Pickup’s 186,715 global sales.

    The GWM Tank 4×4 brand sold 123,881 cars (up 46.5 per cent YoY), the GWM Ora EV brand sold 103,996 units, and the Wey luxury brand moved 36,381.

    Australia is an increasingly important market for GWM, where it sold 25,042 of its models in 2022 (up 36 per cent) – equal to a smidgen under 15 per cent of the company’s total sales beyond China.

    This result placed GWM 13th in-market, sandwiched between Nissan and BMW in the pecking order, and in the process it outgunned the likes of Suzuki and Honda.

    GWM will also significantly expand its current range – GWM Ute, and GWM Haval Jolion and H6 – in 2023, with next cab off the rank being the ladder frame GWM Tank 300 hybrid 4×4, here soon priced from $55,990 drive-away.

    Also due this year is the GWM Ora Good Cat electric hatchback, which has already been spied in Australia ahead of its imminent launch to rival the MG 4 and BYD Dolphin.

    Beyond this, we expect the larger GWM Tank 500 to arrive in electrified (hybrid or PHEV) forms later this year or in 2024, as well as the GWM Ora Next Cat fastback EV which was revealed in Europe late last year.

    Another potential starter for this market soon is the GWM Shanhai Cannon ‘luxury’ pickup detailed last week at the Guangzhou Auto Show. The second-tier pickup will offer V6 petrol power, or a ramped-up 2.4-litre diesel option, and a PHEV is on the way.

    While formerly ruled out, there’s also now understood to be a chance the GWM Haval H6 PHEV – with an EV range well over 100km – will come here to rival the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and MG HS Plus EV too.

    Globally Great Wall Motor will launch more than 50 electrified and electric vehicles by 2025 as it plans to become a leading global player in so-called ‘new energy vehicles’.

    MORE: China’s GWM breaks its export record, helped by Australia
    MORE: 2023 GWM Tank 300: Hybrid SUV approved for sale in Australia
    MORE: GWM Ora Funky Cat EV gets five-star Euro NCAP rating
    MORE: GWM plans sprawling hybrid, PHEV, EV range for Australia

    Mike Costello
    Mike Costello is a Senior Contributor at CarExpert.
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