8:55 am, November 9, 2022
New Chinese entrant GWM Ora will not adopt an agency sales model in the UK, and instead plans to appoint around a dozen dealers in the next 12 months.
The brand, backed by the IM Group in the UK, has already signed up Peter Vardy, Lookers and Wessex Garages to its books and intends to increase the size of its network in line with growing customer interest.
Peter Vardy will offer the Ora UK brand at its Carz Glasgow site, while Wessex Garages will present the brand at its Bristol showroom.
Lookers, meanwhile, has decided to offer Ora UK at its Wolverhampton and Braintree locations.
But the company has decided not to follow an exclusively online sales policy or an agency model as it ‘believes’ in dealers and physical showrooms.
Speaking to Car Dealer, GWM Ora UK’s sales and marketing director, Toby Marshall, said: ‘Retailers are important.
‘We want them to be brought into the brand and want them to grow with us and help us to expand. They are powerful people and they can get the word out there and explain our line-up.
‘We very much see them as partners. We are starting with four sites and we will take on more organically.’
When pushed, Marshall revealed Ora is aiming to appoint one new dealer a month taking the total up to 16 by the end of 2023.
Ora intends to have a ‘hub and spoke’ make-up to its network, with ‘hubs’ offering sales and service, and more numerous ‘spokes’ offering aftersales.
Artist’s impression of Ora line-up at Wessex Garages’ Bristol showroom
And the network will never total circa 150 dealers like rival Chinese firm SAIC with MG, but will be around the 60 mark ‘even when we’re selling 20,000 cars-plus’, Marshall said.
‘They won’t necessarily be multi-franchise PLCs – we want to find the right person for the right area, so we are talking to dealers big and small.
‘We don’t just want to stay with the big dealer groups,’ he added.
By the end of November 2022, GWM Ora will be offering various features for customers online, consisting of a configurator, a part-exchange valuation tool, and reservation and delivery date functions.
But the online tools will work hand-in-hand with the brand’s dealers, said Marshall.
CGI images revealed to Car Dealer showed dealerships will wear ‘simple’ exterior branding.
Meanwhile, on the inside, showrooms will have ‘friendly, warm and welcoming’ decor, furniture and fittings in keeping with the Funky Cat’s cutesy image.
For the time being, the only model Ora UK is offering is the Funky Cat, initially as a high-spec First Edition for £31,995.
It comes with a 48kWh battery and offers a range of up to 193 miles.
Over the course of the next 12 months, however, larger battery versions are expected to appear along with a sportily-styled GT model.
Dealers will also be able to sell a D-segment electric coupe-saloon (pictured above), called internally ‘Next Cat’, but whose name will change.
Great Wall Motor (GWM) was founded in 1984 and is the market leader in domestic market for luxury SUVs.
It has a joint venture with BMW and Ora is its electric-only brand.
It’s the second time the company has arrived on UK shores.
IM Group launched the Great Wall brand in 2011 and offered the Steed pick-up.
However, the pick-up and the Great Wall name disappeared from sale in the UK in 2016 after the vehicle couldn’t mean new Euro 6 emissions regulations.
