Collaboration with dealer network Emil Frey
Great Wall Motor will partner with dealer organization Emil Frey for the European distribution of the Wey and Ora brands. That reports Automotive News. This autumn, the sale of the Ora Funky Cat should start in Germany, later the Wey Coffee 01 will follow. Germany will be the first European country where Wey and Ora are available, but it is certainly not the last.
The collaboration with Emil Frey was certainly not chosen without reason by the Chinese, whose European ambitions are not exactly new. Emil Frey is the largest dealer organization in Europe. The originally Swiss company is also quite large in the Netherlands. Dealers Nefkens (Peugeot/DS/Citroën/Opel), Visser (Peugeot), Ekris (BMW/Mini), Pouw (Volkswagen/Audi/Seat/Skoda), De Bois (Honda), Emerpark (Citroën/DS), Terwolde ( Renault/Dacia) and Hyundai Wittenberg all fall under the umbrella of Emil Frey. Great Wall Motor will first enter the German market with Wey and Ora in the fourth quarter of this year, but an expansion to the rest of Europe with this dealer network is of course obvious. ‘Intensive discussions’ are currently being held about this.
Ora Funky Cat
The first model that Great Wall Motor will offer in Germany is the Ora Funky Cat, previously known as 02 Cat. That is a 4.24 meter long electric hatchback with a pretty striking appearance. At the front, this is mainly due to the round headlights and rounded lines, at the back, the taillight is particularly striking. At first glance, that seems to be missing, but is processed like a light bar under the rear window. The Funky Cat has a 171 hp and 250 Nm strong electric motor that drives the front wheels. The model is expected to be available with a battery capacity of 48 kWh or 63 kWh, good for a range of 300 or 400 WLTP kilometers. That’s not bad for its size.
After Ora, Wey is also coming to Germany, although it is not yet known when the sale of the premium brand of Great Wall will start. Wey’s first model to come to the European market is the Coffee 01, a plug-in hybrid SUV that is comparable in size to the Mercedes-Benz GLE and BMW X5, among others. The Coffee 01 is expected to have a system output of 476 hp and 850 Nm, a battery pack with a capacity of 41.8 kWh should provide an unspeakable electric range of 150 kilometers.
To the Netherlands?
The above specifications are indicative, because the final European specifications of both models, as well as the prices, are not yet known. It is also still unclear whether Wey and Ora will come to the Netherlands, although that would be a logical step with Emil Frey’s extensive dealer network. Emil Frey also works in the Netherlands with another Chinese brand: XPeng. For the time being, however, the European market introduction of that brand is still somewhat difficult.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl