GWM aims for European production in Bulgaria
At the end of 2025, Great Wall Motor (GWM) evaluated various locations for its first European plant. Indications strongly suggested that the decision would likely be Spain or Hungary. However, the Chinese automotive giant just announced at its Tech Day in Milan that its European production its vehicles – such as the Ora 5 – are set to be located in Bulgaria.
Image: Ora
GWM does not want to remain an import-only brand in Europe long term. The Chinese group aims to produce around 300,000 vehicles per year in European plants by 2029. A key driver of this strategy is the EU’s punitive tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports, which local production would let GWM avoid. GWM began evaluating European locations for its first plant in 2025. Contenders included Spain and Hungary.
GWM has now officially announced its first European plant will be in Bahovitsa, Bulgaria. The central northern village of Bahovitsa is located in Bulgaria’s Lovech Province, known for its automotive industry. GWM began establishing a presence at this site in 2012, with an assembly plant for semi-knocked-down (SKD) kits, becoming the first Chinese automaker to enter Europe. However, instead of expanding the facility, production stopped in 2016 due to the bankruptcy of its Bulgarian partner, Litex Motors. The factory buildings were subsequently taken over by the Bulgarian Automotive Industry (BAI).
This now-renovated plant will remain owned by BAI, but will be taken over by GWM from 2027, and BAI will act as an independent contract manufacturer producing the contractually agreed volumes. Series assembly of the electric compact SUV Ora 5 is set to begin in the first quarter. The electric car is already available in Europe as an imported vehicle. Anton Dontschew, Director of International Business at BAI, said this step marks only the beginning of a broader collaboration between the two companies.
The Bahovitsa plant should have an annual production capacity of 50,000 vehicles. To reach GWM’s target of 300,000 cars by 2029 in Europe, the Chinese automotive group will need to open additional production sites in Europe or significantly expand existing capacities in the coming years.
“From local R&D to local manufacturing, we are building a fully localised ecosystem for Europe, and aim to grow together with European customers and partners through long-term investment and collaboration,” explained GWM CTO Nicole Wu at the company’s Tech Day 2026 in Milan, Italy. “We’ll start with SKD assembly, but supply of some parts will be localised from the very beginning.”