On June 25, Mando, an automotive parts manufacturer under Halla Group, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with GWM. Under the agreement, the two sides will work closely in fields such as steering system, suspension system and braking system. Present at the signing ceremony were both sides’ senior executives including Halla Chairman Chung Mong-won and GWM Chairman Wei Jianjun.
According to sources, the two sides have cooperated in projects such as shock absorber, vacuum booster and rear parking brake assembly of hot sellers, like Great Wall H6 and Great Wall M4. After the agreement’s conclusion, the two sides will give full play to respective resource advantage, create technically leading automotive products and forge a longstanding and solid partnership.
Now, platform orientation has become a development trend of the global auto industry and GWM is constructing its platform strategy. The agreement’s conclusion will be more conducive to the implementation of GWM’s platform strategy, said Wei, hoping to reduce development periods and enhance product competitiveness through platform orientation. There is some gap between Chinese auto brands and European and American brands in terms of product quality, GWM will follow the example of German products to constantly improve product quality and win by high cost performance, he said frankly.
Halla attaches great importance to GWM’s platform-based R & D and production, thus it has established the Great Wall project team of the China Research Institute to provide follow-up support, refined concrete project links and gradually advanced project implementation, Chung said.
According to sources, as a renowned general group in Korea, Halla’s business covers a wide range of fields such as building, automotive parts, logistics, emerging business, education and sports. Founded in 1962, Halla’s subsidiary Mando is one of Korea’s most advanced automotive parts companies. After over 50 years’ development, Halla has become one of the world’s top 100 automotive parts manufacturers and ranked 50th on the list in 2012.
