On November 30th, GWM concluded a strategic cooperation agreement with Webasto China in Baoding. Under the agreement, the two sides will extend their cooperation from just purchasing to technical R & D on sunroofs. Webasto China will start to participate in the R&D process at the beginning of the GWM’s new products development and keep providing GWM with quality products and service. Both GWM Vice President Zhao Guoqing and Webasto China President Freddy Geeraerds attended the signing ceremony.

As its first Chinese customer, GWM started to cooperate with Webasto China in 2005. Webasto China has already supplied sunroof systems for GWM’s Haval H3 and Great Wall C50 models. Under the new strategic cooperation, Webasto China will focus on providing technical support for the both the Haval series and passenger car series of GWM models. The company will also work on organizing a perfect cooperation plan by straightening out its overall product series.

“Future GWM models will preferentially use products from strategic partners. We will maintain a high matching proportion,” said Zhao at the signing ceremony. Several Haval SUVs and Great Wall passenger cars are currently being designed with panoramic sunroofs in order to meet the increasingly high demands of customers. By working with international parts giants, GWM hopes to be able to improve its product quality even further, and continue to narrow the gap with European automakers.

“Our earlier cooperation has demonstrated GWM’s philosophy that is geared towards constant improvements in product quality,” said Geeraerds. He later added that Webasto China attaches great importance to its strategic cooperation with GWM. The company will now begin to offer GWM more resources in terms of product platform design and technical innovation in order to achieve a win-win situation for both sides.

Founded in 1901, Webasto is a world-famous auto parts maker. The company has now become synonymous with quality sunroofs. The company has many Chinese customers, including automakers like: Beijing Benz, BMW Brilliance, Shanghai GM, Shanghai Volkswagen, FAW-Volkswagen, Changan Ford, and Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen. With such a long client list, Webasto has continued to lead the Chinese auto sunroof market with 60 percent share of the market.