Great Wall Motor Signs Agreement With General Motors For GM’S Thailand 'RAYONG' Facility

Great Wall Motor (GWM) expands its global footprint by signing an agreement for the purchase of General Motors’ manufacturing facility in Rayong, Thailand. This announcement is subject to government and regulatory approvals.

Under a signed binding term sheet, GM Thailand and GM Powertrain Thailand legal entities, which include the Rayong vehicle assembly and powertrain facilities, will transfer to GWM. GM and GWM are targeting end of 2020 to close the deal and hand over the site.

“This agreement marks an important milestone in the overall scheme of things for Great Wall Motor in the ASEAN Region and is a testimony of our global expansion strategy that is now focused on South East Asia including India.”, said Parker Shi, Vice President, GWM India. He further added “With the showcase of its line-up in India at the Auto Expo 2020, GWM is looking at India as a manufacturing hub and a very important asset in the ASEAN market, encompassing manufacturing, R&D and exports.”

Speaking on this occasion GWM global strategy Vice President Liu Xiangshang said: “The global strategy of Great Wall Motor has begun to take shape after more than 10 years of development. In the past two years, through the export model transformation and upgrades, Great Wall Motor has accelerated the pace of its strategic global rollout. In 2019, Great Wall Motors’ Tula plant in Russia successfully started production, and the company also reached an agreement with GM to acquire its Talegaon Plant in India in early 2020.” 

The acquisition of GM's Thai Rayong plant will help the business development of Great Wall Motor in Thailand and the ASEAN market. Great Wall Motor will expand through the entire ASEAN region with Thailand as the center, and export its products to other ASEAN countries as well as Australia. 

Since, commencing manufacturing in 2000, the Rayong site has produced nearly 1.4 million trucks and large SUVs for domestic and export markets, as a regional manufacturing hub for mid-size trucks, SUVs and diesel engines.