First Chinese automaker to assemble cars in the EU opens plant

(21 Feb 2012) SHOTLIST 1. Various of car plant assembly line at Great Wall Motors 2. Zoom out from Bulgarian Prime Minister Boiko Borisov cutting ribbon at official plant opening ceremony 3. Orthodox priest blessing official and the first car off production line 4. Cutaway of screen at ceremony showing Borisov signing a car 5. Cutaway of car bonnet with signatures 6. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Wang Fengying, President and CEO of Great Wall Motors: ++ROUGH TRANSLATION++ "Our target is to enter the EU market, and we chose Bulgaria to realise this strategy and this is an important goal." 7. Cutaway of news conference 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Alexander Cramb, Plant Director, Great Wall Motors: "We design this plant for two shifts and 50,000 cars a year so we have another shift spare so we're happy about that. Two shifts capacity will employ 2,000 workers, as my good friend on the left has told you, and we can expand that with extra modules if necessary. It's a very good design." 9. Sign for Bahovitsa at the entrance in the village 10. Firewood outside a house in downtown Bahovitsa 11. Old World War II canon in front of the city hall 12. SOUNDBITE (Bulgarian) Kalin Krastev, Mayor of Bahovitsa: "I am happy to be the mayor of this village, especially at this moment. I think that this new plant will be good for us, Bulgaria and for the young people in the village too. I hope it will be of mutual benefit for the village and the plant." 13. Mid of village 14. Workers walking to factory 15. Wide of factory STORYLINE Great Wall Motors launched operations in Bulgaria on Tuesday, becoming the first Chinese automaker to assemble cars in the European Union. At a ceremony in the village of Bahovitsa, the major Chinese sports utility vehicle maker said it will start with an initial production quota of 2,000 cars a year, with the output rising to 50,000 annually by 2014. The car plant, owned by Great Wall Motors and Bulgaria's Litex Motors, will initially produce cars aimed at the local market. Future targets could include Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Serbia. Great Wall Motors officials said the aim was to gradually expand into other European markets. Since Bulgaria is a member of the European Union, the project provides Great Wall Motors with access to other EU countries at zero tariff levels. "Our target is to enter the EU market, and we chose Bulgaria to realise this strategy and this is an important goal, said Wang Fengying, Great Wall president and CEO. The first two models being produced in Bulgaria - the Voleex C10 city car and the Steed 5 pickup - will cost 8,000-12,500 euros (10,565-16,500 US dollars). Plant director Alexander Cramb said the plant was designed for two shifts that had the capacity to make 50,000 cars a year "Two shifts capacity will employ 2,000 workers ... and we can expand that with extra modules if necessary," Cramb told a news conference on Tuesday. The plant currently employs 120 peole but aims to employ 2,000 workers over the next three years, the plant's executive director, Iliya Terziev, said. Next to the current assembling facility, where original Chinese car parts are put together by Bulgarian workers, construction is under way for a welding and painting facility. Kalin Krastev, the mayor of Bahovitsa, said the plan would benefit the village and its young workforce. The new car plant is part of Bulgaria's efforts to attract foreign investment needed to boost its crisis-battered economy, but also part of China's search for new export markets. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/9f048bbafc5d64bdea693e59e40c3ccd

Added 16 Aug 2026