Great Wall Motor suspends Tank-brand output for a week to cool off as heatwave sears China

Name: SCMP
Telephone: +852-2680-8888

Tank is a premium SUV brand introduced in 2021, whose sales account for over a fifth of Great Wall Motor’s total dispatches

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Great Wall Motor, mainland China’s largest sport-utility vehicle (SUV) maker, will suspend production of its Tank-branded vehicles at the end of July, citing safety reasons amid an expected summer heatwave. Photo: Weibo

Daniel Renin Shanghai

Published: 6:30pm, 17 Jul 2024Updated: 6:59pm, 17 Jul 2024

Great Wall Motor, mainland China’s largest SUV maker, will suspend production of its “Tank” branded vehicles for a week at the end of this month, citing extreme weather as the country’s northwest and eastern regions grapple with a brutal heatwave.

Tank is a premium SUV brand introduced in 2021, and Great Wall produces both petrol and plug-in versions. The brand’s sales account for over a fifth of its total.

The company, based in Baoding, north China’s Hebei province, said in a statement on Wednesday that all the three plants assembling the Tank vehicles would stop and customers could face delayed deliveries.

“As the temperature continues to rise, we plan to examine and maintain the manufacturing facilities at the Tank factories,” the statement said. “We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused by the production halt.”

A summer heatwave has forced Great Wall Motor to suspend production of its Tank-branded vehicles. Photo: Weibo

The mainland has witnessed sweltering heat across the country this year.

About 20 regions, including Shanghai and its neighbouring province of Zhejiang, saw temperatures top 35 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.