BEIJING — Great Wall Motor Co. swung to a net loss in the first quarter after profits dropped 14 percent last year, as the coronavirus epidemic hit the world’s biggest auto market.
The Baoding company, which has a joint venture with German luxury automaker BMW, said in a stock exchange filing Friday it reported a 650 million yuan ($92 million) net loss in the first three months of the year, down 184 percent from a 773.3 million yuan profit a year earlier.
Hit by the coronavirus epidemic, China’s overall car sales fell 42 percent in the first three months compared with a year earlier. Sales of Great Wall, which is known for its popular SUVs, dropped 47 percent.
Great Wall said the epidemic’s impact on auto sales and devaluation of the Russian ruble were the reasons for the profit drop in the first three months this year. Great Wall also builds vehicles in Russia.
It has agreed to buy two assembly plants in India and Thailand from General Motors and expects transactions for both factories to be completed in the second half of 2020, and will retool production lines at both factories to make its models.
In 2019, Great Wall reported 4.49 billion yuan profit, down from the previous year’s 5.2 billion yuan. Rival Geely Automobile’s profit dropped 35 percent last year while BYD net income fell 42 percent.
Great Wall Chairman Wei Jianjun said earlier the firm does not want to enter into a price war in the market slowdown. Great Wall now aims to sell 1.02 million vehicles in 2020, down from last year’s sales of 1.06 million units.