Bahovitsa is the kind of place the global auto industry rarely thinks about — a village near Lovech in northern Bulgaria, well off the continent's established manufacturing corridors. That changed last week, when Great Wall Motor (GWM) confirmed the site as the home of its first European plant and, with it, the Chinese automaker's first wholly localized manufacturing base on the continent. From early 2027, the all-electric Ora 5 compact SUV will roll out of Bahovitsa, carrying GWM's European ambitions — and a fair share of Brussels' anxieties.
In truth, this is less a debut than a homecoming. GWM will resume car manufacturing at the Bahovitsa facility, a plant with a production past, working hand in hand with a local manufacturer. The setup is deliberately lean: the project targets 50,000 new energy vehicles a year, yet the investment is pegged at under 100 million yuan — a rounding error in an industry where new plants routinely cost billions.
The arithmetic behind the move is no secret. By building inside the EU's borders, GWM aims to sidestep the tariffs that have weighed on Chinese-built electric vehicles in Europe, and to revive sales that have so far fallen short of hopes. A locally assembled Ora 5 changes the cost equation entirely, handing the brand a tariff-proof beachhead in the EU's single market.
