Produced by Radar Finance | Text by Zhou Hui | Edited by Meng Shuai

Great Wall Motor recently released its October production and sales report. While the company's overall sales declined, the ORA brand—which has repositioned itself from "loves women more" to "global young urban lifestyle seekers"—achieved growth against the tide.

Data shows that in October, ORA brand sales reached 12,200 units, up 115.78% year on year. From January to October, the brand sold a total of 71,600 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 102.68%, accounting for 6.88% of Great Wall Motor's total sales during the same period.

Not long ago, Great Wall Motor also released its 2026 third-quarter report: the company recorded single-quarter revenue of 57.767 billion yuan, down 5.68% year on year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.362 billion yuan, a drop of more than 40% from the same period last year.

For the first three quarters combined, Great Wall Motor's revenue reached 159.869 billion yuan, a slight year-on-year increase of 4.09%. Net profit attributable to shareholders, however, fell 55.69% year on year to 3.826 billion yuan—an awkward situation of "revenue growth without profit growth."

Yet Great Wall Motor's overseas performance during the year has been quite impressive. According to the production and sales report, from January to October, the company's overseas sales reached 538,800 units, up 37.69% year on year, with the sales share jumping from 36.7% in the same period last year to 51.78%.

In its third-quarter report, Great Wall Motor stated bluntly that although it adhered to its global brand strategy and Guyuan model and achieved growth in overseas sales and revenue, delays in recovering overseas tax policy subsidy income, exchange rate fluctuations, and continued pressure in the domestic auto market led to a year-on-year decrease in company profit.

The ORA brand, once known for "loves women more," has become Great Wall Motor's sales growth engine

On November 1, Great Wall Motor released its latest production and sales report. Data shows that in October, Great Wall Motor's sales were 120,400 units, down 15.87% from 143,100 units in the same period last year.

Among them, the Haval brand, which serves as the company's foundation, had monthly sales of 71,000 units, down 19.5% year on year. The WEY brand, positioned as a high-end luxury brand, had monthly sales of only 8,648 units, a year-on-year decrease of more than 30%.

Meanwhile, Great Wall Pickup and Tank brands sold 13,100 and 15,400 vehicles respectively, with sales declining by 7.37% and 31.01% year on year.

During the same period, the ORA brand grew against the trend, with sales soaring from 5,648 units in October last year to 12,200 units—a year-on-year growth rate of 115.78%—becoming the main engine of Great Wall Motor's sales growth that month.

Over a longer time horizon, the ORA brand's performance remains impressive. From January to October, while Great Wall Motor's overall sales declined by 2.42% year on year, ORA brand sales still achieved strong growth of 102.68%.

In the first 10 months of this year, the ORA brand sold a total of 71,600 vehicles, accounting for 6.88% of Great Wall Motor's total sales during the same period.

Tianyancha information shows that Great Wall Motor Company Limited ("Great Wall Motor") was registered and established in 2001 and listed on the A-share and Hong Kong stock markets in 2003 and 2011, respectively.

In 2018, Great Wall Motor officially launched its independent pure electric vehicle brand, ORA. In December of the same year, the ORA R1 (renamed ORA Black Cat in July 2020) was officially launched.

According to the ORA brand book, as of the end of 2018, the brand's cumulative sales reached 3,515 vehicles. Subsequently, the ORA brand successively launched models such as ORA White Cat and ORA Good Cat.

In March 2021, the ORA brand pioneered the industry by establishing the brand positioning of "loves women more." However, at the end of that year, the ORA Good Cat was exposed by CCTV for "vehicle system chips not matching publicity," triggering rights protection by many car owners.

In 2022, the ORA brand, having suffered the "chip swap incident," saw full-year sales decline by 22.98% year on year to 104,000 units.

The following year, the ORA brand fully committed to the female-focused track, but the results were limited. In 2023, the brand's full-year sales were 108,500 vehicles, up 4.35% year on year, significantly lower than the sales growth rate of Great Wall Motor's other brands during the same period.

In 2024, the ORA brand fell into a "trough," with full-year sales of only 63,300 vehicles, a year-on-year decline of 41.69%. There were even rumors in the outside world that Great Wall Motor might abandon the ORA brand.

The turning point came in June last year, when Great Wall Motor announced the appointment of Lü Wenbin as general manager of the ORA brand, responsible for the overall management of the ORA brand.

It is reported that this was the first time in more than two years that ORA separately established a brand general manager. Previously, the position had been concurrently held by Haval brand general manager Zhao Yongpo for nearly 5 months, and sales and after-sales channels had also been integrated into the Haval system.

According to the personnel appointment announcement, Lü Wenbin joined Great Wall Motor upon graduation and has long been dedicated to technical and R&D work. In 2020, Lü Wenbin was promoted to technical general manager of the Haval brand.

At the same time, Great Wall Motor also plans to rebuild ORA's independent channels and launch four all-new products.

A dealer close to Haval revealed that ORA's new positioning aims to break through the previous brand limitations. "The new products will emphasize technology and hardcore attributes more, retain some family features in design, but will no longer pursue a low-price route, nor be limited to the female market."

In its 2025 annual report, Great Wall Motor stated that the ORA brand had officially completed its brand strategy transformation, upgrading from the niche positioning of "refined women" to targeting "global young urban lifestyle seekers," and comprehensively upgrading from a single pure electric brand to a brand covering all powertrains, focusing on globalization, fashion, and youthfulness.

In its 2026 interim report, Great Wall Motor further revealed that the initial results of ORA's brand positioning transformation had been achieved, successfully realizing four major outcomes: "customer group expansion," "technology label," "sales growth," and "overseas expansion."

Net profit halved in the first three quarters, operating cash flow plunged 70%

However, constrained by the previously low base, ORA's sales growth did not significantly drive an increase in Great Wall Motor's overall profit.

According to Great Wall Motor's 2026 third-quarter report, in the first three quarters of this year, the company achieved revenue of 159.869 billion yuan, a slight year-on-year increase of 4.09%; it recorded a net profit attributable to shareholders of 3.826 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 55.69%.

Among them, in the third quarter, the company achieved single-quarter revenue of 57.767 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5.68%; it recorded a net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.362 billion yuan, a decrease of more than 40% from the same period last year, presenting an awkward situation of both revenue and net profit declining.

In response, Great Wall Motor explained in its financial report that the performance fluctuation in the third quarter was mainly due to the company's adherence to its global brand strategy and Guyuan model, which achieved overseas growth, but continued pressure in the domestic auto market led to a year-on-year decrease in company profit.

According to an analysis by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, in the first three quarters of this year, China's automobile production and sales declined slightly, and the market generally showed an operating trend of "cold at home, hot abroad."

Data shows that from January to September this year, China's automobile sales were 23.271 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 4.5%. Among them, domestic automobile sales were 15.066 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 22.4%; exports were 8.205 million units, a year-on-year increase of 65.8%.

Some analyses pointed out that the contraction of total industry volume has made stock competition among automakers increasingly fierce. Coupled with the squeeze from rising costs and wait-and-see demand, industry profits continue to decline.

According to Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the Passenger Car Association, from January to September 2026, the auto industry's revenue was 8,043.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.6%; profit was 267.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 23%; and the sales profit margin was only 3.3%.

Among them, the single-month profit margin in September further dropped to 1.4%, and profit plunged 68% year on year to 14.2 billion yuan, at a nearly four-year low.

Tonghuashun iFinD data shows that in the first three quarters of this year, Great Wall Motor's sales gross margin was 17.98%, a decrease of 0.42 percentage points from the same period last year; looking only at the third quarter, its sales gross margin was 17.28%, a year-on-year decrease of 1.14 percentage points.

In addition, in terms of cash flow, Great Wall Motor is also facing certain pressure. In the first three quarters of this year, the net cash flow generated by the company's operating activities was 6.219 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 70.92%.

Great Wall Motor stated in its financial report that the change in this indicator was mainly due to increased inventory stocking based on overseas sales growth and accelerated supplier payments.

Tonghuashun iFinD data shows that as of the end of the third quarter, Great Wall Motor's inventory scale reached 40.171 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.91%.

During the same period, Great Wall Motor's total assets were 232.594 billion yuan, total liabilities were 144.725 billion yuan, and the asset-liability ratio was 62.22%, an increase of 1.34 percentage points from the same period in 2025.

Overseas sales "advancing triumphantly," Great Wall Motor accelerates localized layout

In sharp contrast to the company's current pressure in the domestic market, Great Wall Motor's overseas sales are "advancing triumphantly."

According to the latest production and sales report disclosed by Great Wall Motor, from January to October this year, Great Wall Motor's overseas sales reached 538,800 units, a year-on-year increase of 37.69%, and the sales share jumped from 36.7% in the same period last year to 51.78%.

Although overseas sales have already accounted for "half of the country," the profitability of the company's overseas business is still constrained by factors such as delays in recovering overseas tax policy subsidy income and exchange rate fluctuations.

Taking the 2025 annual report as an example, in the full year of 2025, Great Wall Motor sold 506,800 new vehicles overseas, a year-on-year increase of 11.6%; the overseas market achieved revenue of 91.488 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.99%.

During the same period, Great Wall Motor's sales in the domestic market were 817,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 4.69%; revenue was 128.468 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.64%.

From the above data, both the sales growth rate and revenue growth rate of Great Wall Motor's overseas business outperformed the domestic market, but its gross margin performance was weaker than domestic.

Annual report data shows that in 2025, the gross margin of Great Wall Motor's overseas business was 16.7%, a year-on-year decrease of 2.06 percentage points; while the gross margin of the domestic business was 18.61%, a year-on-year decrease of 1.26 percentage points.

As more and more automakers increase their overseas expansion efforts, Great Wall Motor faces increasingly fierce competition in overseas markets.

Data shows that in the first half of this year, BYD exported 792,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 67.8%; during the same period, Geely Automobile exported 474,000 vehicles, with a year-on-year growth rate as high as 158%.

Against this backdrop, Great Wall Motor chose to accelerate the localization layout of overseas markets to achieve an upgrade from "product export" to "local manufacturing."

On October 27, Great Wall Motor CTO Wu Huixiao stated at the launch event of the Great Wall Menglong in Milan, Italy, that Great Wall Motor will establish a production base in Lovetch, Bulgaria.

It is reported that the factory's production line will complete renovation by the end of this year, have the capacity to produce new energy vehicles, and be planned with an annual capacity of 50,000 vehicles. The first model to be put into production will be the Great Wall ORA 5, expected to officially roll off the line in the first quarter of 2027.

In addition, Great Wall Motor also plans to build a local industrial park in Europe integrating complete vehicles and components, and gradually expand its product lineup according to market demand.

It is worth mentioning that as one of the Chinese automakers that entered the European market earlier, Great Wall Motor established a European R&D center in Munich as early as 2021, building local R&D capabilities.

In September this year, Great Wall Motor Chairman Wei Jianjun visited Italy, Germany, Belgium, Spain, and other countries, personally connecting with local European teams, supply chains, and dealer resources.

From senior management inspections to manufacturing deployment, Great Wall Motor's localized layout in Europe is rapidly advancing along the path of "R&D first, manufacturing implementation, system follow-up," and has taken a key step in the localization of European production capacity.

Regarding the layout of this production base in Bulgaria, Great Wall Motor stated that this move not only enables products defined by its Munich European R&D center to be manufactured locally in Europe, but also aligns with its existing channel networks in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and other locations, creating synergy across R&D, manufacturing, and distribution.