Like it or not, the global 4×4 market is getting a massive shake up as the world’s biggest car market – China – becomes increasingly enthusiastic about it.
As we’ve covered previously, well-known brand GWM has partnered over there with China’s biggest off-road accessory importer, Yunliang 4×4, in an effort to market and sell limited edition models of the hot-selling GWM Tank 300 SUV.
The headline? 1000 sales in three minutes.
GWM, the reborn Great Wall Motors, has spent years developing, improving and refining its line-up and made inroads in Australia – with its GWM Ute and Haval SUVs growing at a rate of knots.
MORE: China’s GWM plans for Big Dog, Tank 300, Ora EVs
Off the back of this success, GWM Australia is rumoured (wink wink) to be bringing the Tank 300, a mid-sized 4×4 wagon, to Australia towards the end of this year.
There’s a real hot spot in the market for small- to mid-size 4×4 wagons packed with features and priced well. The GWM Tank 300 might just hit that nail squarely on the head.
So what is this article (and all the current fuss) really about? Well, it swings back across the Pacific Ocean to China where another online event has broken records, highlighting the rapidly escalating local passion for off-roading.
Our old mate Yunliang 4×4 in tandem with GWM has created a specialised off-road edition of the Tank 300 with factory fitted 4×4 enhancements, and taken responsibility for the marketing and sales.
Yunliang 4×4 focusses on Australian and American off-road brands and is the biggest importer and distributor of ARB equipment in all of Asia. The company also manufactures a number of in-house accessories.
The special edition Tank 300, under Yunliang 4×4’s guidance, comes factory fitted with BFG tyres, Eibach springs (raised two inch suspension), Warn winch, front and rear steel bars, snorkel, side steps and more.
But the piece de resistance is the marketing and sales methods where Yunliang 4×4 champions a direct-to-consumer sales channel via the Chinese social media platform TikTok.
Last year, Yunliang 4×4 sold an unequalled 300 Tank 300s in just three minutes. But not resting on that, less than a year later (late July this year), he smashed that sales count by selling 1000 of them in the same amount of time.
In actual fact, a breakdown of the process showed that the 1000 vehicles were sold in under ten seconds, but the process of finalising each purchase took the full sale time out to almost three minutes.
So the message is clear, no matter where you are around the world: if you are passionate about, or even slightly interested in off-road adventures, more players in the market means better offerings and more competitive pricing.
It is also a massive validation of the importance and relevance of the 4×4 aftermarket accessory industry in general.
Tell us what you reckon about the Tank 300 below in the comments
MORE: GWM Tank 300, meet China’s Jeep Wrangler off-road rival
