JAKARTA - Great Wall Motor boss Wei Jianjun, delivered a warning to employees in the company's annual meeting recently. According to him, Chinese car manufacturers still have a huge gap compared to leading global automotive brands.
The statement was made in early February and then quoted by Chinese media, amid the rapid growth in the scale of China's vehicle industry and exports, which are projected to continue until 2026.
Although Chinese brands are increasingly aggressive in expanding their global presence and increasing their domestic market share, Wei believes that manufacturers, including his company, need to remain realistic and not be complacent by short-term achievements.
According to him, caution is needed so that the competitiveness built is truly sustainable. Wei highlighted that manufacturers from established automotive regions such as Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the United States still excel in manufacturing experience and technological depth.
He emphasized the importance of learning from the best practices of these regions, as well as conducting internal evaluations to close various shortcomings through consistent improvement measures. Quoted from Carnewschina, Monday, February 23, as an illustration, Wei mentioned Toyota in dealing with quality issues.
He assessed that Toyota was able to maintain customer confidence even though it often withdrew products. This is because the company is responsive, proactive, and transparent in communicating solutions to users.
He also reminded of the broader risks in the industry, especially the increasingly aggressive price competition in China. According to Wei, massive price cuts have the potential to trigger long-term challenges if they are not supported by a healthy business model and consistent product quality.
Regarding global expansion, Wei assessed that the surge in Chinese vehicle exports in recent years still depends heavily on price advantages. He reminded that a strategy based on low prices can limit the strengthening of brands in international markets in the long term.
Great Wall Motor reported global vehicle sales of 1.3237 million units throughout 2025, including 403,700 new energy vehicles and 506,100 units of overseas shipments. The company also posted annual revenue of 222.79 billion yuan (about 30.77 billion US dollars) and net profit of 9.912 billion yuan (about 1.37 billion US dollars), according to a release in early 2026.
New energy vehicles account for about 30 percent of Great Wall Motor's total deliveries, the majority of which are still supported by gasoline and hybrid engine models. For comparison, BYD has switched entirely to the production of new energy vehicles and stopped selling pure internal combustion engine cars in recent years.
Closing his statement, Wei emphasized that Chinese companies and the automotive industry as a whole must continue to prioritize product quality, technology development, and long-term competitiveness along with increased production capacity and export expansion by 2026.
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