Does Great Wall Motors need to rely on pure-electric vehicles to redeem itself from the so - called "35 - year slump"?

On July 18th, Great Wall Motor Group released its performance report for the first half of 2025. In terms of revenue, there was a year - on - year increase of 1.03%, but the net profit was not as fortunate.

During the reporting period, Great Wall Motor achieved a net profit of 6.337 billion yuan, a year - on - year decrease of 10.21%. For Great Wall, which has always emphasized "profit", this is undoubtedly a heavy blow.

This 35 - year - old automaker is facing a "mid - life crisis" and must "start over" in the crisis.

As Wei Jianjun, the chairman of Great Wall Motor, said recently when the company launched a special recruitment campaign for talents over 35 years old globally, "35 should not be the end, but just another 'beginning' for everyone, a starting point for a new squat - jump."

Photo/Great Wall Motor's recruitment fair for those over 35. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

Making another effort in the pure - electric field might be Great Wall's another "beginning".

ORA, as the only pure - electric brand in the Great Wall system that has achieved large - scale mass production, is being "revived". This strategic adjustment, regarded as its "second jump", bears the heavy responsibility of filling the gap in Great Wall Group's pure - electric map.

However, with the current new - energy vehicle penetration rate exceeding 50%, it remains a question whether this somewhat delayed effort can help Great Wall break through in the fierce market competition. In fact, the challenges are much greater than expected.

1. Can ORA's "revival" fill the fragmented pure - electric map?

Replacing the leader, launching new products, and setting performance targets - Recently, in 2025 when the new - energy vehicle market has entered a "fierce competition period", Great Wall made a "regenerative" adjustment to the ORA brand.

Behind this adjustment is the determination of Wei Jianjun, the helmsman of Great Wall, not to give up on the pure - electric field or rather to make another attempt in the face of the irresistible trend of pure - electric vehicles.

On June 20th, an appointment notice of ORA pushed Lü Wenbin to the forefront. The notice shows that Lü Wenbin was appointed as the general manager of the ORA brand, taking full charge of the brand's operations, including strategic planning, product layout, marketing promotion, and user operation. This appointment took effect immediately.

Photo/ORA's personnel appointment notice. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

Previously, the position of the general manager of the ORA brand was concurrently held by Zhao Yongpo, who is also the general manager of the Haval brand.

On the day of taking office, Lü Wenbin wrote on his personal Weibo, "Moving from the technical background to the front - line of marketing is the company's trust in me and also a new starting point and challenge." He also gave a preview of the 2025 ORA Good Cat.

Photo/Lü Wenbin's Weibo post. Source/Screenshot from Weibo, New Energy Outlook

After Lü Wenbin took over as the general manager of ORA, internal news spread that ORA has established a "Lightning Project" team, planning to launch a performance version of the Lightning Cat in Q4 and restart the previously shelved Ballet Cat GT project.

Moreover, relevant information also mentioned that ORA quietly launched the "Hive Direct - sales Plan" in June, and the first batch of 50 direct - sales stores will be opened in the core business districts of first - and second - tier cities, complementing the previous dealer model.

Improving the sales channels takes time, but the products met consumers 7 days after Lü Wenbin officially took charge of ORA.

On June 27th, the 2025 ORA Good Cat and the 2025 ORA Good Cat GT Mulan Edition were launched at the Great Wall Motor Technology Center in Baoding. Whether it's the newly added 8 scenario - based modes, the comprehensively upgraded intelligent cockpit, the more recognizable exterior design, or the more efficient electric drive system with a range of up to 430 km, the new ORA Good Cat shows great sincerity in every aspect.

Photo/Launch of the 2025 ORA Good Cat and ORA Good Cat GT Mulan Edition. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

Lü Wenbin also said at the press conference that two major new products targeting the global market will be launched in the second half of the year. These two products took 3 years to develop and cost 1 billion yuan. They not only feature high - end appearance and advanced technology but also offer a highly comfortable driving experience.

Photo/Plans to launch major new models in the second half of the year. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

However, even though the ORA Good Cat has indeed been upgraded in terms of product strength, in the eyes of consumers, it is still a low - end small car that "caters" to women and is priced below 100,000 yuan.

In fact, a simple observation reveals that while major automakers are competing to layout the new - energy vehicle market, especially constantly targeting the high - end market, among the five major automobile brands under Great Wall, the "blank" in the pure - electric track, especially the high - end pure - electric segment, is glaring: Haval mainly sells the Xiaolong MAX and the Menglong Hi4, which are essentially plug - in hybrids; Tank relies on the Hi4 - T for hardcore off - road, and its pure - electric models are still on the drawing board; WEY's Gaoshan and Lanshan are plug - in hybrid MPVs/SUVs; and Great Wall Cannon's pure - electric pickups are still in road - testing.

Only ORA is the only pure - electric brand in the Great Wall system that has achieved large - scale mass production, but it has been unable to break into the high - end market for a long time.

2. Why doesn't Great Wall produce high - end pure - electric vehicles?

High - end products are always considered the profit drivers of an enterprise. However, Great Wall, which has always adhered to the principle of "profit first", has not made efforts in the high - end pure - electric market. Why?

From a market perspective, the pure - electric market below 100,000 yuan has a larger scale and greater potential, and its growth rate was significant in the first half of 2025. According to the data from the Passenger Car Association, the retail sales of A0 - class sedans in June 2025 increased by 142% year - on - year and 9% month - on - month compared with May 2025.

From January to June 2025, the wholesale volume was 691,100 units, with an accumulated growth rate of 69% in manufacturers' wholesale sales; from January to June 2025, the domestic retail volume was 459,800 units, with an accumulated retail growth rate of 82%.

The market potential is indeed a reason for Great Wall to focus on the A0 - class market, but the more fundamental reason might be that Great Wall doesn't want pure - electric models to erode the more profitable fuel - vehicle market and profits.

After all, fuel vehicles are Great Wall's "cash cow".

In 2024, Great Wall Group sold a total of 1.2345 million new vehicles, among which only 322,200 were new - energy vehicles, accounting for only 26.10%. In sharp contrast, Haval, which mainly sells fuel vehicles, sold a total of 707,100 vehicles throughout 2024, and Great Wall Cannon sold 175,100 pickups.

Photo/Great Wall Motor sold 322,000 new - energy vehicles in 2024. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

These major fuel - vehicle models basically cover the relatively profitable price range of 100,000 - 250,000 yuan, thus shaping the company's image as a "high - margin SUV manufacturer".

In 2024, with a sales volume of 1.23 million vehicles, Great Wall Group earned a net profit of 12.692 billion yuan, with a per - vehicle profit of 10,300 yuan, far exceeding BYD's per - vehicle profit of 9,400 yuan and Geely's per - vehicle profit of 5,500 yuan.

Photo/Great Wall Motor's net profit in 2025. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

In fact, Wei Jianjun has never avoided the pursuit of profit. He has repeatedly stated clearly that if Great Wall Motor cannot make a profit among Chinese automakers, then other automakers have even less chance. He even said bluntly at an internal sharing meeting that "Rather let the market share fall out of the top ten, we must maintain a gross - profit margin of 20%."

Perhaps this is also one of the reasons why Great Wall previously put the ORA brand on hold.

At that time, Dong Yudong, the then CEO of ORA, clearly stated that due to the low profit margins of the models, the Black Cat and the White Cat brought losses to the company, which the company could not bear.

Wei Jianjun also mentioned that the monthly sales of the Black Cat and the White Cat models could reach more than 20,000 units, but the company would lose 13,000 yuan for each vehicle sold. Calculated in this way, the annual loss would be 2.6 billion yuan, so the production had to be stopped.

Photo/The Black Cat and the White Cat models incurred a loss of 13,000 yuan per vehicle. Source/Screenshot from Sina Finance, New Energy Outlook

In this regard, it is understandable why Great Wall's layout in the pure - electric field is relatively conservative, especially the insufficient investment in the high - end pure - electric market. It is all the result of profit considerations.

3. Has the era changed? Does Great Wall still have a chance?

Why has Great Wall's attitude towards the ORA brand reversed from abandonment to restart? Has it stopped emphasizing profitability?

The answer is obviously no.

Digging deeper, the fuel - vehicle business, which used to support Great Wall's profits, is now showing signs of weakness.

Throughout 2024, although fuel vehicles were still an important contributor to Great Wall's profit growth, the year - on - year growth rates were all declining. Among them, Haval's annual sales volume was 707,100 units, a 1.8% decline compared with 720,100 units in 2023; Great Wall Cannon's sales volume was 175,100 units, a 13.06% decline compared with 201,400 units in 2023.

The latest performance further confirms that Great Wall's profitability is facing challenges. Data shows that in the first half of 2025, the total operating revenue was 92.367 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 1.03%; however, the net profit of 6.337 billion yuan decreased by 10.22% year - on - year.

Photo/Partial financial data of Great Wall Motor in H1 2025. Source/Screenshot from Internet, New Energy Outlook

While the internal fuel - vehicle "cash cow" is growing weakly, the entire new - energy vehicle market is also undergoing profound changes.

When Great Wall "abandoned" the ORA brand, most of the new Chinese car - making brands were in the stage of "losing money to gain market share" or "the more