There may come a time when American consumers would need to comparison shop between a Tesla Model X or Model Y SUV and a Chinese-made GWM Tank 500.
But that time isn’t now.
The Great Wall Motor Co. Ltd. is one of the scores of transportation-related companies exhibiting this week at CES, introducing the world to the Chinese electric car market.
One of GWM’s Chinese rivals, BYD, last week announced annual sales of the company’s battery-powered cars increased last year by 28 percent to more than 2.25 million sales. Coupled with Tesla’s 9 percent decline in 2025 sales, BYD has surpassed Tesla in annual world sales for the first time.
While BYD wasn’t at CES (though it had some vehicles on display), the four-day consumer electronics show running through Friday, Baoding-based GWM, located in China’s Hebei province, is.
“We want American customers to know more, to learn more about our technology,” Wanpeng Li, product supervisor for GWM overseeing products and technology, said through an interpreter.
“The reason why we are here to attend CES is we want to project to the whole world market. We want to influence the whole world market, not just the American market.”
CES is one of the nation’s best-attended trade shows by international delegates.
There was a steady stream of visitors to the GWM booth at West Hall Thursday morning, checking out the SUV and motorcycle models on display and sitting in one of the six comfortable bucket seats of the Tank 500 and Wey 07 SUV models.
The company also showed its Soud S2000 motorcycle and the exposed chassis of the powertrain of the GWM vehicles.
“Tesla is doing great in the Chinese market, and because it has its own technology, it has its own unique advantages,” Li said. “But in terms of driver and car interactions with the equipment, we are doing better than Tesla. In terms of powertrain, luxury, comfort and safety, we are at the top of the pyramid. We prioritize safety and we are doing the best among all the Chinese companies.”
Li said the company is now by sales one of the top 10 car brands in China and it recently secured a foothold in Latin America when it opened a manufacturing plant in August in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Last month, GWM introduced the latest in its Tank series, the Tank 700, in the United Arab Emirates.
Since the Tank 300 was first introduced in Riyadh in 2023, the model has been popular with off-road enthusiasts. Today, the Tank 500 leads the mid-to-large SUV segment in Qatar. Tank models are now available in more than 30 countries worldwide, with global sales of over 800,000 units.
The 700 series has already launched in China and has begun entering key overseas markets of Eurasia and Kazakhstan.
But Li said there are major challenges ahead before American consumers will see Tanks on sale in the United States.
“We are trying very hard, but there are a lot of very realistic issues like the tariffs (President Donald Trump’s decision to place tariffs on numerous Chinese goods). So the timing (of when GWM will be in the United States) is still undecided, but we are very much looking forward to it.”
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.
