By Gabriel Araujo
IRACEMAPOLIS, Brazil (Reuters) – Chinese carmaker Great Wall Motor Co Ltd will start operations of its Iracemapolis plant in Brazil on May 1, 2024, the company announced on Thursday, also disclosing which vehicles it will manufacture there.
The firm, owner of brands such as Haval and Tank, said it will produce a hybrid, flex-fuel pickup called Poer and a still undisclosed hybrid SUV in the plant, which was bought from Mercedes-Benz in 2021 and will be its largest in a Western country.
GWM will join firms such as Toyota, which already manufactures hybrid flex-fuel cars in Brazil, and Stellantis, also investing in the technology.
Those cars can run on 100% ethanol in addition to their electric engines. Poer will be the first hybrid pickup produced in Brazil, according to the firm.
GWM also expects to export vehicles from the South American nation, initially eyeing other Latin American countries.
It will start renovations in the plant in the first half of 2023, aiming to expand its capacity to 100,000 vehicles per year from the current 20,000.
(Reporting by Gabriel Araujo; Editing by David Gregorio)
