Great Wall slashes SUV pricing

GREAT WALL importer Ateco Automotive has effectively slashed $2000 from the price of its underperforming X240 and X200 medium-size SUVs until the end of this year.

Offered in the form of a manufacturer’s cash-back bonus, the move means the entry-level X240 2.4-litre petrol will cost buyers only $21,990 driveaway between now and December 31, rather than the usual list price of $23,990 driveaway.

Standard equipment levels are unchanged and therefore include leather upholstery, Bluetooth connectivity, alloy wheels, reversing camera and climate control.

With the $2000 bonus applied, the 2.0-litre turbo-diesel X200 4WD manual is effectively priced at $24,990 driveaway, with the auto still $2000 extra.

Great Wall sales have grown quickly since the Chinese brand was launched in Australia in June 2009 and are up 32.2 per cent to the end of October 2012 over the same 10-month period last year – well ahead of the industry average of 12.2 per cent.

However, despite the introduction late last year of the more-popular diesel-engined X200 with an auto option, combined X series sales are up only 3.6 per cent this year after sales dropped 10 per cent in October compared with the same month last year.