New Tank 500 Price Increase for Pre-Sale, Great Wall Stays Committed to High-End Profitability

In 2024, Great Wall Motors made a huge profit of 12.69 billion yuan, a year-on-year surge of 80.76%. However, in the first quarter of this year, Great Wall Motors’ net profit was 1.751 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 45.60%. The time interval is not long, so why is there such a stark contrast?

Tank brand sales decline

From January to July this year, Great Wall Motors' cumulative sales reached 674,161 units, a year-on-year increase of 3.57%. Breaking it down by brand, ORA's cumulative sales plummeted by 50.15%, and TANK's cumulative sales dropped by 8.19%. ORA and TANK are currently the two brands under Great Wall Motors experiencing negative growth.

Euler's sharp decline was expected, but the downturn of the Tank brand was unexpected. In 2024, the Tank brand achieved a cumulative sales of 231,001 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 42.12%. Thanks to the outstanding performance of this brand, Great Wall Motors' performance was boosted, resulting in an 80.76% increase in net profit.

This year, sales have started to decline. I believe this is mainly due to objective reasons. First, there is the impact of price reductions by competitors like Leopard, including Leopard 5 and Leopard 8, which have taken some market share from the Tank brand to a certain extent. Second, the overall market environment still shows a downward trend in prices. Even if they are not direct competitors, some consumers may still choose other brands over Tank due to the price advantage.

New Tank 500 Price Increase Pre-sale

Generally speaking, when price no longer holds an advantage, corresponding measures are often taken in terms of terminals and new models to boost sales. However, "Tank," literally, means tough.

The current Tank 500 does not offer any terminal discounts; at most, buyers can only enjoy national and local subsidies. Last year, monthly sales of the Tank 500 reached around 5,000 units, but this year, monthly sales have dropped to about 3,000 units, which has had a significant impact on Great Wall Motors’ financial situation.

In this context, Great Wall Motors recently announced the pre-sale prices for the 2026 Tank 500 models. The 2026 Tank 500 Hi4-T has a pre-sale price of 360,000 yuan, while the 2026 Tank 500 Hi4-Z has a pre-sale price of 388,800 yuan.

Compared to the current model, the main upgrade lies in the intelligent driver assistance system. Although the official promotion states that the intelligent driver assistance is standard across all new models, it is also a fact that the new model is priced 20,000 to 30,000 yuan higher than the old one.

In addition, it has been questioned that intelligent assisted driving has now become standard in most vehicles. Even when new models are upgraded, prices generally do not increase. The intelligent assisted driving system equipped on the 2026 Tank 500 is developed by Great Wall Motors. Whether this system alone can justify a price increase of 20,000 to 30,000 yuan is difficult to assess.

On one hand, only the pre-sale price has been announced, and whether the official launch price will be lowered remains unknown. On the other hand, even if the price of the 2026 Tank 500 increases, it is understandable, as those who favor high-end off-road vehicles are generally not overly sensitive to price. Moreover, not all brands under Great Wall Motors are committed to maintaining prices without reductions.

Finally, do you think the new Tank 500 will sell better than the current model?