China’s Great Wall Motor (GWM) has revealed it’s been developing its first supercar for five years now, and promises the end result will be better than the million-dollar, V8-powered Ferrari SF90 – the famed Italian brand’s first plug-in hybrid vehicle.
In a video interview with Chinese car blogger @保镖的车库 last week, GWM’s chief technology officer Wu Huixiao confirmed the new super sports car remains in development, but provided no details.
However, GWM chairman Wei Jianjun has been seen driving a Ferrari SF90 and Ms Huixiao insisted “our car will be better”, but said the company would learn from its peers.
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“We must build a car that will spike up adrenaline, cause an explosion of hormones, and dopamine,” Chairman Wei is reported to have said.
Ms Huixiao said the GWM supercar’s development program continues to focus on cost reduction, in order to bring to market a model that is not only competitive with the world’s finest supercars, but cheaper.
She said GWM is “still looking at controlling the costs” but promised that “once it comes out, it will be a stunning product”.
Asked whether the vehicle would be tested at Germany’s notorious Nürburgring public circuit, Ms Huixiao said: “recently we invited a Nürburgring expert over [to China]”.
GWM unveiled its first eight-cylinder car engine – a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 – at the recent Shanghai motor show, as part of a new plug-in hybrid powertrain (pictured at top).
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Aion Hyper SSR
However, Ms Huixiao agreed with her interviewer’s assumption it would be too large to be applied to a supercar.
Without confirming the structure of the supercar in question, she also said GWM was researching and developing carbon-fibre chassis technology.
But Ms Huixiao conceded that GWM had encountered difficulties with carbon tubs during extensive testing, adding that they are not easy to develop and that no Chinese carmakers currently does it well.
GWM’s new performance flagship, which appears unlikely to be all-electric, won’t be the first Chinese supercar.
Aion, an EV-focused brand within the GAC Group, already sells the Hyper SSR electric supercar in China.
Dubbed “China’s first supercar” and claimed to set “a new benchmark for China’s auto industry” in terms of both performance and manufacturing, the SSR is priced from RMB 1.286 million (A$272,000).
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Yangwang U9
It’s based around a carbon-fibre chassis, features butterfly doors, claims maximum power of 900kW, and the quickest of its two variants is said to hit 100km/h in as little as 1.9 seconds.
Compatriot BYD last year unveiled the U9 electric supercar under its Yangwang luxury brand.
Priced from RMB 1.68 million (A$357,000) in China, where only a single variant has been launched, the battery-powered quad-motor two-seater delivers 820kW of power and 1680Nm of torque, and apart from being able to ‘jump’ it’s claimed to accelerate from 0-100km/h in 2.36 seconds.
BYD’s other premium brand Denza also unveiled the Denza Z sports car concept at the Shanghai motor show last month.
Best known for its utes and SUVs, GWM has a range of brands in China, even though it sells all its vehicles under the GWM banner locally.
Haval is its mass-market SUV brand, Wey specialises in more premium SUVs and people movers, Tank exclusively offers off-roaders, and Ora is the carmaker’s electric vehicle brand.
MORE: A guide to everything you need to know about GWM
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