Shanghai (ZXZC)- Great Wall Motor (GWM), China's biggest SUV and pickup manufacturer, is ambitious to sell 300,000 WEY-branded SUVs per year by 2025, GWM's chairman Wei Jianjun announced the goal at the third anniversary of WEY.

In a bid to enhance WEY's global influence, the company aims to roll out the vehicles to Europe in 2021 and to North America in 2023, and then extend to the rest part of the world, according to Mr. Wei.

The three-year-old brand has created several “firsts” in China's auto market. For instance, its VV7 became the country's first premium model whose monthly sales volume exceeded 10,000 unit; WEY was honored the first Chinese premium brand which saw three-year total sales surpass 300,000 units. The milestone vehicle came off the production line at GWM's Xushui plant on October 22.

However, hampered by the dwindling sales for overall market and intensified competition from joint ventures, the brand has been posting faltering sales performance this year. After ten months through October, the Baoding-based automaker sold 80,199 WEY vehicles, a year-on-year slump of 31.09%.

Mr. Wei added GWM would prioritize WEY brand when it allocates the company's most advanced technologies and resources.

Aiming for a world's leading smart premium auto brand, GWM is to improve the intelligence level of WEY models year by year. A model equipped with "level 2.9" driver assistance system is set to be launched in the second quarter next year. After that, mass production of level 3 models is to start in 2021, and the level 4 intelligent product is scheduled to enter commercial deployment in 2022.

Electrification is another strategic highlight. Wei said the company would offer electric variants for each of its WEY models from 2021, covering HEV, PHEV and BEV, and planned to launch the brand's first FCV model in 2022 (photo source: Great Wall Motor).