Great Wall restarts the sedan project! The new brand "ZX" will be released, and the first model will be on par with Gust
When it comes to Great Wall Motors, many people may have a doubt in their hearts, why can't they build a car if they want capital and technology?
In fact, the early Great Wall sedan was still quite popular, after Wei Jianjun took over the Great Wall industry, with the family business's front axle and suspension manufacturing technology, coupled with the purchased chassis technology, directly launched the first batch of Great Wall cars, and created a million turnover within half a year.
Unfortunately, the project was halted due to the lack of car production qualifications. However, Wei Jianjun has not given up this "car dream", and after getting the car production qualification in 2007, he chose to reverse develop the Fiat Panda for the first time, bringing the Great Wall Elf. But this was also sued by Fiat, and it was only discontinued, and then self-developed C30, C50, C70 and other models, although there was a short-term glory, but it was also defeated under the wheel of the joint venture sedan.
The failure of the sedan made Wei Jianjun firm in the research and development of SUVs and pickups, while the Haval SUV series and Fengjun pickup series were indeed competitive, and the sales volume rose steadily after listing, accounting for almost half of the market share at its peak.
Great Wall Motors, which has accumulated a lot of money and technology, has also regained the sedan project after the SUV and pickup products are on the right track, and will release a sedan brand - ZX (internal codename) after the ORA brand.
According to the Bureau, the new brand ZX will not be sold through existing channels in the future, and the first model will be a high-end new energy sedan. Previously, the concept map of the first model was also exposed on the Internet, as shown in the picture above, the side of the new car is similar to the executive sedan H9 under the Hongqi brand.
But a closer look reveals that the new car is also quite similar to the Rolls-Royce Gust, especially the front half of the body, which is almost poured out of the mold. And, according to the official disclosure, the new car is not an executive level, but an ultra-luxury flagship model positioned as D+, so we can conclude that the Great Wall "restart" the sedan project this time, not to test the water but to move the real thing.
Great Wall 3.0TV6 twin-turbo engine
From the perspective of brand development, self-development is undoubtedly the best route, not to mention the technical strength of Great Wall in recent years, from the 3.0T V6 engine to the first longitudinal 9AT gearbox, as well as the 9-speed hybrid gearbox, are the best cases.
But then again, the first model of the new brand is positioned as an ultra-luxury flagship model, and it may be difficult to quickly gain recognition with self-developed technology, and the most conservative way is to use a ready-made chassis. And after looking at several companies that have cooperated with Great Wall, it seems that only BMW has the ability to provide the corresponding technology for Great Wall.
Imagine what it would be like to use the BMW 7 Series chassis technology for Great Wall's first high-end sedan? Of course, this is just a guess on our part, and in the end, what route the new car will choose will be subject to the official.
Write at the end:
From beginning to end, Great Wall never thought of giving up the car project, and it was not done before because of qualifications, and secondly, the appeal of joint venture products was too strong. Nowadays, under the impact of the new energy wave, the rise of domestic brands is at the right time, and it is wiser for the Great Wall to choose this time to develop high-end cars, after all, the high-end new energy car market is still a "blue ocean", and the Great Wall is really likely to do something great if it is properly grasped.