Great Wall Motor (GWM) has signed an agreement to acquire Daimler AG’s factory in Iracemapolis, Brazil.
The agreement includes a transfer of ownership for the site’s land, buildings, machinery, and all other properties (excluding personnel). The news comes roughly eight months after Daimler announced that it would wind down car production in Brazil due to a drop in sales triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
When Great Wall takes over the factory, it will introduce advanced production, quality control, environmental protection and information management concepts in line with its global manufacturing standards. The factory will create 2,000 jobs and covers 1.2 million square meters.
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Great Wall intends on building 100,000 vehicles annually at the site.
“South America has served as one of the important strategic markets of GWM, which started to deploy in Chile as early as 2007, and has achieved remarkable results,” the company said in a statement. “The first Pickup and Haval SUV models sold were popular among local users, which reinforced GWM’s determination to further venture into the South American market.”
In the first seven months of 2021, Great Wall’s international sales have jumped by 176.2 percent year-on-year and this new Brazilian factory forms an important part in the automaker’s ongoing global expansion that will see it operating factories in China, Russia, Thailand, India, and Brazil. Great Wall has an ambitious plan to sell 4 million vehicles globally by 2025.
Daimler’s Iracemapolis plant