With the opening of its new plant in Bulgaria, Great Wall Motors becomes the first Chinese automaker to assemble cars in the European Union.
Cars produced by China's Great Wall already hit the Bulgarian market in October last year through a network of twelve representative show rooms across the country.
Voleex C10 sedan, Hover H5 SUV and Steed pickup are the three different vehicle models, which Chinese car maker Great Wall Motor Co and the Bulgarian company Litex Motors will produce in the town of Lovech, Northern Bulgaria, at very competitive prices.
Expectations are for a furore not least because of the cars' low prices.
The plant will have an annual production capacity of 50,000 units and assemble four different models - a sports utility vehicle (SUV), a pickup and two passenger car models, which are expected to be sold in European Union countries.
The total initial investment is around EUR 97 M, potentially reaching EUR 300 M if the project is successful. The Chinese company has secured 10% of the money, the remainder was forked out by Litex Motors.