China's auto industry is mired in internal competition. Price wars are raging, homogeneous competition is eating up profits, and user value is diluted in marketing gimmicks. While most automakers are struggling for short-term sales, Great Wall Motors has chosen a completely different path. It has broken the internal competition cycle with deep technology and reshaped the industry rules with long-termism.
On April 21, Wei's new Alpine MPV received over 7,848 orders in 24 hours after it was launched, proving the market's desire for "real value". This is a sign of the transformation of China's auto industry from "scale expansion" to value creation.
Taking "high mountains" as the anchor, we start the narrative of high-quality car manufacturing
The pre-sale boom of Wei's new Alpine MPV reflects the strong market demand for technology-driven products. As an important move in Great Wall Motor's new energy strategy, the Alpine MPV directly hits the core pain points of family users with the concept of "full safety and luxury standard".
The Hi4 performance hybrid system it carries has a maximum system power of 337kW, 0-100 acceleration in 5.7 seconds, and 7.15L of fuel consumption, subverting the stereotype of traditional MPVs as "high energy consumption and low performance". Its four-wheel drive hybrid technology can achieve millisecond-level torque distribution, ensuring grip on rainy and snowy roads, and combined with the all-terrain control system, it brings safety and passability to a new level.
Behind this technological breakthrough is Great Wall Motors' in-depth layout of the hybrid technology system. The Hi4 series has evolved into a product series covering urban SUVs, off-road and off-road markets, from passenger cars to commercial vehicles, forming a technical matrix of "optimal efficiency in all working conditions".
In the field of safety, the Alpine MPV builds a moat with an "over-investment" strategy. For example, the 81.96% high-strength steel body, 2000MPa hot-formed steel A/B pillars, 3387mm side air curtains, and the "zero intrusion into the three-row living space" performance in the CCTV live broadcast of the two-car 60km/h vertical side impact test have raised the passive safety standards of MPVs to a higher level.
In the context of consumption upgrade, users want both the high cost-effectiveness brought by "technological equality" and the brand recognition shaped by "emotional resonance". Great Wall's adherence to the essence of technology and insight into user needs have made the Alpine MPV a disruptor in the high-end market with a pre-sale price starting at 32.98 yuan.
Technological depth and user equality
The secret of Great Wall Motors' breakthrough lies in using "hard-core technology" to maximize the user's sense of value. Its Hi4 technology system uses a dual-motor distributed layout to reduce the price of four-wheel drive models to 116,800 yuan, breaking the industry's unspoken rule that "four-wheel drive means high premium".
The second-generation Hi4 electric hybrid four-wheel drive system adopts the strategy of "direct drive as the main and series drive as the auxiliary" to avoid the pain point of weak power feeding of extended-range models and achieve a subversive experience of "four-wheel drive performance and two-wheel drive energy consumption". This technical concept also works in the field of commercial vehicles. The Hi4-G hybrid system uses the "three engines, eight gears and ten modes" design to make the comprehensive horsepower of heavy trucks reach 1,000 horsepower, and the fuel consumption is greatly reduced compared with traditional models, directly challenging the traditional energy giants in the long-distance trunk logistics market.
In the field of technology, the Coffee Pilot Ultra assisted driving system is equipped with 27 sensors including lidar. Relying on the end-to-end large model SEE's million-kilometer data iteration, it demonstrates human-like driving logic in complex urban road conditions, and its lane change prediction accuracy leads the industry.
Breakthroughs in the field of AI have further broadened the technological moat. The large spatial language model ASL uses natural language interaction to enable the vehicle to perceive and make decisions about travel scenarios in a three-dimensional manner, such as automatically adjusting the suspension hardness according to the weather at the destination, or optimizing the air conditioning mode based on the health data of the passengers. This "people-centered" technological evolution is reshaping the car from a means of transportation to a "mobile living space."
Behind the all-round technological breakthroughs is Great Wall Motors' "overinvestment" in research and development. Public data shows that in 2024, the research and development expenses exceeded 10 billion yuan, and the cumulative patent authorization reached 12,000. Its technology reserves have formed a full ecological system covering complete vehicles, core components, and new energy.
Off-road track, category innovation and market dominance
From "niche high-end" to "popularization", Great Wall reshapes the Chinese off-road market with technological barriers. In 2024, the Tank brand sales reached 231,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 42.12%, and the global cumulative sales exceeded 600,000 units. With a starting price of 199,800 yuan, the Tank 300 lowers the threshold of hard-core off-road to the urban SUV range, promoting the popularization of the category. The foundation of this market dominance is the Hi4-T off-road hybrid architecture, which can not only achieve a balance between low-speed climbing and high-speed endurance, but also set a benchmark for domestic power with a maximum power of 300kW and a torque of 750N·m.
The improvement of the technology matrix further consolidates the advantages. The all-terrain control system has been tested to the limit and covers all scenarios such as desert, ice and snow; models such as the Tank 400 Hi4-T and Shanhaipao Hi4-T integrate innovation with "off-road + new energy" to promote Chinese off-road culture to the world.
It is worth noting that Great Wall Motors has not stopped at product innovation. Its "Seven Countries and Ten Locations" R&D system and the three major technology brands "Lemon, Tank, and Coffee Intelligence" have built a complete ecosystem from assisted driving to high efficiency and energy saving, laying the foundation for future technological leaps. This closed loop of "technology-product-ecology" has enabled Great Wall to increase its market share in the hardcore off-road market.
The globalization track, from "going out" to "going in"
In overseas markets, Great Wall Motors breaks through the trap of low-price competition with its technological premium. In 2024, its overseas sales volume will reach 454,100 units, a year-on-year increase of 44.61%. In Dubai, the Weipai Alpine MPV opens up a new category of business overseas sales with its luxurious positioning of "all six seats are VIP"; in Australia, the Tank 500 has won the ANCAP five-star safety certification.
In terms of cultural integration, we sponsor the New Zealand Rugby League and the Middle East "Tank League" desert off-road activities, using the "spirit of exploration" to bind the brand core and achieve emotional resonance penetration.
This "ecological overseas expansion" model is different from traditional product exports. Instead, it builds a brand awareness of "high quality and high price" in overseas markets through the localization of the entire value chain of R&D, production, and services.
Anchored in long- termism, from financial resilience to industry leadership
In terms of finance, its 2024 financial report data confirms the logic of "technological compound interest". The financial report shows that Great Wall Motor's revenue is 202.2 billion yuan, net profit is 12.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 80.73%, net cash flow from operating activities is 27.783 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 56.49%, R&D investment has exceeded 10 billion for three consecutive years, and Great Wall Motor's vertical integration rate has exceeded 70%.
In 2024, Great Wall Motors' overseas sales will reach 454,100 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 44.61%. From the perspective of 2024, Great Wall Motors' sales in overseas markets have accounted for 36.8% of its total annual sales.
The premium in overseas markets will help boost Great Wall Motors' gross profit margin in overseas business in 2024, which will be significantly higher than that in the domestic market. The success of this path provides a model for Chinese automakers to "reject involution". The real competitiveness lies not in the configuration table PPT, but in sustainable and healthy operation, and feeding back this healthy development to users to achieve a virtuous closed loop.
In sync with national strategies, writing a new chapter of high-quality development
The rise of Great Wall Motors is a victory for corporate strategy and a microcosm of China's manufacturing industry's transition from scale expansion to value. Through technological depth, overseas ecosystem development, and equal rights for users, it has provided a practical basis for the "automotive power" strategy.
When the industry is overdrawing its future in price wars, Great Wall Motors has proved that the real breakthrough is not in marketing rhetoric, but in the awe of the essence of car manufacturing. From the "universal four-wheel drive" revolution set off by Hi4 technology to the redefinition of off-road by the Tank family; from the "technological compound interest" verified by annual report data to the cultural identity built by ecological overseas expansion, Great Wall has always used "hard-core innovation" to fight against internal competition and "value creation" to find a new way.
Behind this persistence is a precise response to users' demands for "both technological equality and emotional resonance", and it is also the only way for China's manufacturing industry to go from "big" to "strong".
