China's auto industry: A journey into the heart of a self-sufficient giant

The advance of Chinese cars is now making a strong impact in Argentina. After years of import restrictions, current conditions, combined with tariff benefits , create an ideal scenario for their development, which has yet to materialize in the form of patents.

That's why, between last year and 2025, the arrival of new companies and the rebirth of existing ones created an ecosystem of more than 20 Chinese brands with vehicles in our country.

This massive arrival comes at the same time that Chinese companies are beginning to accelerate their business operations in the rest of the world, which coincides, not coincidentally, with a notable evolution in technology, quality, and design at a price that remains comparatively low.

Except in the United States, due to the ongoing geopolitical dispute with the Donald Trump administration, growth is marked throughout the rest of the world. In Europe, for example, Chinese brands as a whole experienced year-over-year growth of 121% last August, surpassing companies like Renault and Audi in terms of registrations. And the key lies in electromobility.

Clarín was able to tour the facilities of the Great Wall Motor Group (GWM) , based in Baoding, about 150 kilometers from Beijing, to try to understand the growth of the Chinese giant in the global automotive industry.

The first Chinese automotive companies were founded in the 1950s. Completely state-owned, they enjoyed collaboration with the Soviet Union, which transferred technology and knowledge for the production of the first trucks.

But the first glimmers of this industry were seen only in the 1980s and 1990s, when groups like SAIC and FAW began partnerships with Volkswagen. Initially, the first cars were assembled entirely with parts made in Germany. But in parallel, Chinese engineers and personnel were trained .

The big leap came in 2001, after China opened its economy and joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). This tempted most of the world's most renowned manufacturers to enter the Chinese market for its potential, something that was confirmed in 2009, when China became the country with the most cars sold worldwide.

But this entry membership required the same conditions as before: creating a joint venture between the foreign and local partners .

And while the big brands saw their coffers swell with sales in China, the staff in the Asian country's factories learned by leaps and bounds and began to have autonomy in development and research and increasingly higher integration .

Today , more than 30 million cars are sold in China each year , and local companies are the leaders. For years, foreign companies with local manufacturing were the most popular.

Furthermore, its technological leadership in electromobility and semi-autonomous driving systems places it in a privileged position that currently appears very solid. All this at a retail price that's below its traditional competitors.

One of the first arguments used when explaining the development of the automotive industry is the contribution that the Chinese state provides to this sector. With a large number of state-owned enterprises or state participation in many manufacturing companies, it is difficult to obtain concrete figures on its scope.

GWM is one of the few Chinese automotive groups with 100% private ownership , and at 35 years old, it's practically a veteran in the Chinese automotive sector. But its structure and current capabilities summarize the current state of almost the entire Chinese automotive industry.

This group specialized in the sale of SUVs and pickups and is comprised of five brands: Haval (SUVs), Tank (4x4 vehicles), Poer (pickups), Ora (electric cars), and Wey (luxury SUVs named after its owner and current president, Wei Jianjun). Of these, the first four are already sold in Argentina .

GWM is not among the brands that sells the most in China (it is led by BYD, with more than 4.2 million units per year), but the more than 1.23 million it sold in 2024 established it as the company that sells the most SUVs and 4x4s there .

This group epitomizes the leadership that the Chinese automotive industry is establishing. GWM has nine research and development centers employing 25,000 people. It also has five other software research and development centers.

Its facilities in Baoding include a new crash test laboratory, the largest in Asia, and an environmental wind tunnel , which allows the company to not only work on vehicle aerodynamics but also simulate climatic conditions at the same time.

It also has a design center based in China, but with satellite offices in other locations in Asia, Europe, and the US. The centers in China also employ engineers and designers who have previously worked for companies such as Porsche, Volkswagen, and McLaren, among others.

Added to this is a test track with a high-speed banked ring where vehicles can be tested at over 240 km/h , in addition to simulating different ground conditions.

As if that weren't enough, GWM produces its own batteries for its hybrid and electric models through its subsidiary Svolt, a company that also produces batteries for the Stellantis Group, BMW, and other Chinese giants like Geely. The company also manufactures its engines and hybrid propulsion systems.

And this year it completed the integration circle that every modern car manufacturer needs: through another subsidiary, it acquired the entire stock stake in a semiconductor factory, essential elements in an era of so many screens and electronic controls .

The result of all this integration translates into models that today set the pace in terms of design, with interiors boasting extremely high perception quality, in some cases equaling those of luxury brands; powerful and efficient propulsion systems; semi-autonomous driving technologies; and proprietary operating systems that are beginning to work with artificial intelligence. All this on a massive production scale, poised to flood the world with Chinese cars. The challenge for traditional brands is enormous.