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The Chinese Great Wall Motors Closed a Deal to Buy the Mercedes-Benz Factory in Iracemápolis in the Interior of São Paulo.
With plans to enter Brazil for years, Great Wall Motors intends to buy a Mercedes-Benz factory in São Paulo, which has been closed since 2020 and is ideal for the Chinese automaker. According to journalist Marcelo Ninio, Great Wall closed the deal with Mercedes-Benz about two weeks ago.
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The Purchase of the Mercedes-Benz Factory
The factory was closed in December of last year and produced the C-Class and GLA models in São Paulo, which currently belong to Great Wall Motors. The purchase is said to have been finalized with Mercedes-Benz two weeks ago and, although not officially announced, the acquisition is already complete. The Chinese manufacturer celebrated this fact in a statement that was reportedly distributed on June 25.
In it, Great Wall Motors provides details about the São Paulo factory and claims that the assembly line would be up to standard for assembling the company’s cars.
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The factory’s assembly line operated far below its potential output, and the situation worsened with the arrival of the pandemic, leading Mercedes-Benz to decide to halt car production in Brazil and revert to selling only imported models. However, this decision did not affect the factory in São Bernardo, also in São Paulo, which continues to produce trucks.
The Entry of Great Wall Motors into Brazil
The Chinese automaker’s interest is quite old. Ten years ago, it announced plans to establish a factory in Brazilian territory, aiming to assemble approximately 100,000 cars per year.
At that time, the setup was to occur in partnership with a local company, Grupo Caoa, which had plans to settle in Paraíba. However, the operation did not move forward due to complications with the local government. The current attempt by Great Wall Motors in São Paulo is directly aligned with its global plans.
The company has been acquiring complexes from other brands in the Asian region, purchasing a GM factory in Thailand and negotiating another one in India, also from GM. The Chinese automaker has already started production in Russia and stated at the time that it was a crucial step to help the Chinese economy gain more space in the global market.
According to WM1, Great Wall would initially begin its operation with imported models, investing in more expensive vehicles and also establishing a network of 60 dealerships. The cars that could arrive would be the Haval H6 SUV and the Poer pickup in 2022, with cheaper options following in 2024.
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