China’s Great Wall Enters U.K. Market With Pickup Truck

Great Wall will become the first Chinese auto maker to begin volume sales in the U.K. when its launches its Steed pickup at next month’s commercial-vehicle show in Birmingham.

Prices will start at £13,998 ($22,317) for what Great Wall calls the “generously equipped” Steed S model.

The auto maker claims the brand promises the lowest purchase price of any double-cab pickup, plus class-leading fuel economy and the lowest insurance ratings.

The Steed has a 2.0L diesel engine, 6-speed transmission and on-the-fly 2- or all-wheel drive. It is being offered through a new nationwide network of 40 Great Wall dealers.

The Steed’s debut at the Birmingham show that runs from April 24-26 marks the first exhibit by a Chinese auto maker at the event. Great Wall says further details about the pickup will be revealed closer to the on-sale date.

The U.K. launch of the Steed comes 35 years after Great Wall built its first vehicle in Baoding, Hebei province, near Beijing. Since then, the auto maker has become China’s largest utility/vehicle producer and employs more than 42,000 people worldwide.

Great Wall, the only privately owned Chinese car company to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, expanded its annual production capacity to 700,000 units last year with the opening of a manufacturing facility at the port of Tianjin, 60 miles (96 km) from Beijing.

The plant is forecast to produce 400,000 units a year of eight different Great Wall models, many of them destined for export markets.

The auto maker already exports its range of small and large family cars, SUVs and pickup trucks to more than 120 countries, including South Africa, Australia and Italy.