China’s Great Wall Motor to shut down European office as EV tariffs loom

Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor has made the decision to shut down its European headquarters in Munich, Germany, and will dismiss about 100 employees before Aug. 31, when the closure will take effect, Automotive News Europe reported on Wednesday. A company spokesperson attributed the move to “tough market conditions” and the “very concrete threat of punitive taxes” on Chinese imports, adding that the automaker will supervise its regional operations remotely to sell cars via local distributors in countries such as Germany and the UK. The automaker, headquartered in the northern Chinese city of Baoding, is still planning to build a factory in Europe with Germany, Hungary, and the Czech Republic among the possible locations, although it sold only 1,621 vehicles on the continent in the first four months of this year. The European Commission is supposed to inform Chinese exporters of whether it intends to impose punitive tariffs by early June and they could come into effect within a month or so, Bloomberg reported on May 22, citing consulting firm Eurasia Group. [Automotive News Europe]