Shanghai (ZXZC)- For the first quarter of 2021 (Q1), Great Wall Motor (GWM) gained 1.639 billion yuan ($252.238 million) in the net profit attributable to shareholders, posting a remarkable growth from the net loss of 650.144 million yuan ($100.027 million) for the year-ago period, according to the automaker's latest quarterly financial results.

Haval Big Dog; photo credit: Great Wall Motor

During the reporting period, GWM saw its Q1 revenue surge 150.62% year on year to 31.117 billion yuan ($4.787 billion).

Besides, the net cash flow arising from operating activities in Q1 tumbled 59.37% from a year earlier to 213.154 million yuan ($32.794 million) and the basic earnings per share stood at 0.18 yuan.

The company said the robust hike in net profit was mainly credited to the increase in the sales and gross margin of complete vehicles.

For the first three months of 2021, GWM sold 338,798 new vehicles, posting a robust growth of 125.4% compared to the previous year. Four brands (Haval, WEY, ORA and Great Wall Pickup) all scored year-on-year growth of over 90% in Q1 sales. Notably, the growth rate in ORA's sales volume stood at up to 1035.2%.

The automaker said its Q1 sales of overseas markets rocketed 115% from a year ago to 28,810 units, of which 6,558 units were sold in Russia, a year-on-year increase of 62%.

GWM also announced a R&D expense of 907.92 million yuan ($139.686 million) for the Jan.-Mar. period, a year-over-year leap of 48.56%.

With the launch of three technology brands, namely “L.E.M.O.N.”, “TANK” and “Coffee Intelligence”, in 2020, the company is endeavoring to build a technical ecosystem integrating autonomous driving, intelligent cockpit, highly efficient fuel consumption and new energy vehicles.

In last December, GWM launched the “L.E.M.O.N. hybrid DHT”, a highly-integrated multi-mode hybrid solution with high working efficiency, which is available for full range of speeds and multiple travelling scenarios.

During the same month, the automaker launched the “331 Strategy” under its “Coffee Intelligence Driving” program. Under the new strategy, GWM aims to be a leading intelligent driving tech developer that owns the most users and application scenarios in China, and boasts the greatest reputation from users over the next three years.