China's GWM wants to take on Ferrari with a supercar of its own
China's Great Wall Motor (GWM) has revealed it's been developing its first supercar for five years now, and promises the end result will be better than the million-dollar, V8-powered Ferrari SF90 – the famed Italian brand's first plug-in hybrid vehicle.
In a video interview with Chinese car blogger @保镖的车库 last week, GWM's chief technology officer Wu Huixiao confirmed the new super sports car remains in development, but provided no details.
However, GWM chairman Wei Jianjun has been seen driving a Ferrari SF90 and Ms Huixiao insisted 'our car will be better', but said the company would learn from its peers.
Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.
'We must build a car that will spike up adrenaline, cause an explosion of hormones, and dopamine,' Chairman Wei is reported to have said.
Ms Huixiao said the GWM supercar's development program continues to focus on cost reduction, in order to bring to market a model that is not only competitive with the world's finest supercars, but cheaper.
She said GWM is 'still looking at controlling the costs' but promised that 'once it comes out, it will be a stunning product'.
Asked whether the vehicle would be tested at Germany's notorious Nürburgring public circuit, Ms Huixiao said: 'recently we invited a Nürburgring expert over [to China]'.
GWM unveiled its first eight-cylinder car engine – a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 – at the recent Shanghai motor show, as part of a new plug-in hybrid powertrain (pictured at top).
However, Ms Huixiao agreed with her interviewer's assumption it would be too large to be applied to a supercar.
Without confirming the structure of the supercar in question, she also said GWM was researching and developing carbon-fibre chassis technology.
But Ms Huixiao conceded that GWM had encountered difficulties with carbon tubs during extensive testing, adding that they are not easy to develop and that no Chinese carmakers currently does it well.
GWM's new performance flagship, which appears unlikely to be all-electric, won't be the first Chinese supercar.
Aion, an EV-focused brand within the GAC Group, already sells the Hyper SSR electric supercar in China.
Dubbed 'China's first supercar' and claimed to set 'a new benchmark for China's auto industry' in terms of both performance and manufacturing, the SSR is priced from RMB 1.286 million (A$272,000).
It's based around a carbon-fibre chassis, features butterfly doors, claims maximum power of 900kW, and the quickest of its two variants is said to hit 100km/h in as little as 1.9 seconds.
Compatriot BYD last year unveiled the U9 electric supercar under its Yangwang luxury brand.
Priced from RMB 1.68 million (A$357,000) in China, where only a single variant has been launched, the battery-powered quad-motor two-seater delivers 820kW of power and 1680Nm of torque, and apart from being able to 'jump' it's claimed to accelerate from 0-100km/h in 2.36 seconds.
BYD's other premium brand Denza also unveiled the Denza Z sports car concept at the Shanghai motor show last month.
Best known for its utes and SUVs, GWM has a range of brands in China, even though it sells all its vehicles under the GWM banner locally.
Haval is its mass-market SUV brand, Wey specialises in more premium SUVs and people movers, Tank exclusively offers off-roaders, and Ora is the carmaker's electric vehicle brand.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
2 hours ago
- Perth Now
Shark attack! GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV manages feat BYD Shark 6 couldn't
GWM Australia has posted footage of its GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV climbing a muddy 'Beer O'clock Hill' – the same hardcore hillclimb on which a BYD Shark 6 was seriously damaged in a similar attempt last month. In a thinly veiled shot at fellow Chinese automaker BYD, GWM is now spruiking the Cannon Alpha PHEV as the first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) to scale the infamous, vehicle-destroying off-road ascent. The plug-in Cannon Alpha ute not only beat the Shark 6 to the summit, but also the Ford Ranger PHEV, which is due in showrooms in within weeks and, as far as we know, is yet to tackle Beer O'clock Hill. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. Supplied Credit: CarExpert Located in The Springs 4×4 Adventure Park two hours southwest of Brisbane, Queensland, the cheekily named Beer O'clock Hill is a rutted 100-metre hillclimb with a gravity-defying gradient of up to 50-degrees. It was the site of recent heartbreaking damage to a BYD Shark 6 that failed to make it to the rock-ledge summit. Owner Chris Baker, who runs the All Terrain Action website, seriously damaged his weeks-old Shark 6 during his attempt to climb the steep and muddy hill, bending the chassis and disabling the vehicle. Supplied Credit: CarExpert The Shark 6 could only be driven in electric mode after the mishap. It's worth noting that the damage was not the result of a product failure on BYD's part. Yet the result led to members of the BYD Shark 6 owners group kicking off a GoFundMe campaign to get Mr Baker's ute back in shape – or replaced. Supplied Credit: CarExpert The GoFundMe page for Mr Baker has so far raised $1045. Now, GWM has posted footage of its Shark 6 rival climbing the same slippery hill, complete with mud and ruts following more recent rain, with comparative ease. The Cannon Alpha PHEV was fitted with a set of non-standard Mickey Thompson all-terrain tyres but was, according to GWM, otherwise as it rolled off the showroom floor. 'I reckon Beer O'clock Hill has caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in vehicle damage over the years,' said The Springs Park 4×4 Adventure Park owner Lucas Bree in a statement. '[It's] Shut down some of the most heavily modified rigs I've seen, so watching showroom-spec GWM vehicles, including a plug-in hybrid, make it to the top has completely changed my view of the brand. They've earned serious respect.' For good measure, GWM also showed a Cannon XSR and a GWM Tank 300 large SUV confidently conquering the slippery slope – also fitted with Cooper A/T tyres – again in what appears to be relative ease.
7NEWS
2 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Shark attack! GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV manages feat BYD Shark 6 couldn't
GWM Australia has posted footage of its GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV climbing a muddy 'Beer O'clock Hill' – the same hardcore hillclimb on which a BYD Shark 6 was seriously damaged in a similar attempt last month. In a thinly veiled shot at fellow Chinese automaker BYD, GWM is now spruiking the Cannon Alpha PHEV as the first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) to scale the infamous, vehicle-destroying off-road ascent. The plug-in Cannon Alpha ute not only beat the Shark 6 to the summit, but also the Ford Ranger PHEV, which is due in showrooms in within weeks and, as far as we know, is yet to tackle Beer O'clock Hill. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. Located in The Springs 4×4 Adventure Park two hours southwest of Brisbane, Queensland, the cheekily named Beer O'clock Hill is a rutted 100-metre hillclimb with a gravity-defying gradient of up to 50-degrees. It was the site of recent heartbreaking damage to a BYD Shark 6 that failed to make it to the rock-ledge summit. Owner Chris Baker, who runs the All Terrain Action website, seriously damaged his weeks-old Shark 6 during his attempt to climb the steep and muddy hill, bending the chassis and disabling the vehicle. The Shark 6 could only be driven in electric mode after the mishap. It's worth noting that the damage was not the result of a product failure on BYD 's part. Yet the result led to members of the BYD Shark 6 owners group kicking off a GoFundMe campaign to get Mr Baker's ute back in shape – or replaced. The GoFundMe page for Mr Baker has so far raised $1045. Now, GWM has posted footage of its Shark 6 rival climbing the same slippery hill, complete with mud and ruts following more recent rain, with comparative ease. The Cannon Alpha PHEV was fitted with a set of non-standard Mickey Thompson all-terrain tyres but was, according to GWM, otherwise as it rolled off the showroom floor. 'I reckon Beer O'clock Hill has caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in vehicle damage over the years,' said The Springs Park 4×4 Adventure Park owner Lucas Bree in a statement. '[It's] Shut down some of the most heavily modified rigs I've seen, so watching showroom-spec GWM vehicles, including a plug-in hybrid, make it to the top has completely changed my view of the brand. They've earned serious respect.'
AU Financial Review
2 hours ago
- AU Financial Review
China steel demand slump an ‘ominous' sign for ASX miners
A collapse in Chinese steel demand to its lowest levels in eight years is an 'ominous' sign for the ASX's mining giants that the worst may not be over for the already beaten down materials sector. Steel rebar futures in China, a key indicator of construction activity slumped to the lowest since 2017 at the end of last week as the world's second-largest economy continues to grapple with a prolonged property sector crisis and waning industrial output.
