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Great Wall Motor picks Bulgaria for its first European plant, with Ora 5 assembly from 2027

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Compact electric SUV bodies moving along a bright car assembly line with robotic arms and workers in the background Foreign Investment
Compact electric SUV bodies moving along a bright car assembly line with robotic arms and workers in the background

The Chinese carmaker will build the Ora 5 compact SUV at Bahovitsa near Lovech with contract manufacturer Bulgarian Automotive Industry, starting in the first quarter of 2027 with capacity of 50,000 cars a year.

China's Great Wall Motor (GWM) will build its Ora 5 compact SUV in Bulgaria from early 2027 under a manufacturing agreement with a local partner, establishing its first manufacturing base in Europe, Reuters reported from the company's Tech Day in Milan on 27 October.

GWM said the Bulgarian plant would have planned capacity of 50,000 vehicles a year, with production due to start in the first quarter of 2027. It did not disclose the financial terms. The company offers the Ora 5 in Europe with electric, hybrid and petrol powertrains and did not say which version will be made in Bulgaria.

According to electrive, the plant is in Bahovitsa, a village in Lovech Province. GWM first set up there in 2012, assembling semi-knocked-down kits, but production stopped in 2016 after its Bulgarian partner Litex Motors went bankrupt. The buildings were later taken over by Bulgarian Automotive Industry (BAI). The renovated plant will stay in BAI's ownership, and BAI will act as an independent contract manufacturer producing agreed volumes. Anton Donchev, BAI's director of international business, said the step was only the start of broader cooperation, electrive reported. Spain and Hungary had been among the other locations considered.

Local production would help GWM avoid trade barriers. Its electric vehicles imported from China pay a 20.7% EU anti-subsidy duty on top of the standard 10% car import tariff, Reuters noted. GWM aims to make 300,000 vehicles in Europe by 2029 and is targeting a 3% to 5% share of the European market by 2030. Its European sales fell by nearly 30% in 2025 to about 3,500 cars.

"We'll start with SKD assembly, but supply of some parts will be localised from the very beginning," chief technology officer Nicole Wu said, as quoted by electrive. The group also said it plans integrated industrial parks in Europe for vehicles and components.

For Bulgaria's automotive suppliers, the return of vehicle assembly to Lovech raises the question of which parts will be sourced locally and how quickly volumes will grow beyond kit assembly.

Sources