GREAT Wall Motor Co., China’s biggest maker of sport-utility vehicles, is targeting an annual sales of four million vehicles in 2025, chairman Wei Jianjun said yesterday, as the Hong Kong and Shanghai-listed carmaker sees an increase in the demand for leisure use. Great Wall’s revenue is expected to reach 600 billion yuan (US$92.86 billion) in 2025, Wei said in a briefing on the company’s strategy at its headquarters in Baoding, northern China’s Hebei Province. Great Wall, which sold 1.1 million cars last year, aims for 80 percent of its annual sales in 2025 to be new energy vehicles, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. It targets to sell 2.8 million cars in 2023 with a production lineup of more than 60 models, said Meng Xiangjun, a senior executive at Great Wall. China, the world’s largest auto market, rolled out supportive policies for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles last year, which require local governments and companies to build a more mature supply chain and business model for the industry. Great Wall is building a car plant in China with BMW for electric vehicles. The company plans to be carbon-neutral in 2045, earlier than China’s overall target of 2060. Great Wall, which competes with Geely and BYD, is also planning to manufacture cars in Russia and Thailand. The firm has been stepping up spending to transform from a traditional vehicle assembler to a technology-driven mobility company. It unveiled its Smart Coffee brand in July, calling it the “digital engine” of its transition, covering autonomous driving, electrical systems and smart cabins. (SD-Agencies) | 