GWM Restarts Former Mercedes-Benz Factory In Brazil For Haval H6 Production

Total GWM sales in July 2025. (Photo: GWM Global)

JAKARTA - August is a special month for Great Wall Motor (GWM), because this Chinese brand will start production at its Brazilian factory.

Quoting from the CNevpost page, Friday, August 8, the ceremony will take place on August 15 and will be attended by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and GWM Chairman Wei Jianjun.

The first model of the Great Wall Motor assembled in Brazil the Haval H6 SUV will be launched at the event. Even the mill's welding and painting lines are already in operation, and 530 employees have been recruited, including 145 office and administrative staff.

The plant is expected to start operating with a multiple shift system by the end of this year, with a total of 1,000 employees, according to the report. Initial production capacity will reach 30,000 units per year, and will increase to 50,000 units by 2028.

"The localization rate will be low in the first year, but the company is targeting a local procurement rate of around 35 percent in the second year," said Director of institutional affairs at Brazilian GWM Ricardo Bastos.

The plant was previously owned by Mercedes-Benz, which halted production of vehicles in Brazil in 2021. GWM announced in August 2021 that it had signed an agreement with Daimler Group to acquire the Iracempolis plant in Brazil.

The plant will have an annual production capacity of 100,000 vehicles after renovation, creating nearly 2,000 jobs in the region, GWM said at the time.

GWM will be the latest Chinese car manufacturer to start producing passenger vehicles in Brazil. After previously BYD assembled its car in Brazil.