Great Wall Motor's profits hit reverse gear

Great Wall Motor, China's largest manufacturer of sport-utility vehicles, seems to have started losing its steam after a sustained rapid growth in the past five years, with the company seeing 70 billion yuan ($11.3 billion) contraction in its market value in the first half of this year, compared with its record high, China Economic Weekly reported on Tuesday.

The carmaker, credited with leading the way for other Chinese auto brands, sold 48,533 vehicles in June, a decline of 15 percent from a year earlier. All models except for its popular Haval H6 saw a steep fall in sales. Its half-year sales stood at 347,000, down 5.7 percent year-on-year.

The company's performance, according to the report citing industry analysts, was stymied by the lackluster sales of its sedans, which slumped 49.9 percent year-on-year, bucking the trend of overall car market in the world's second-largest economy.

Analysts said the sharp fall was a result of the automaker's lopsided corporate strategy that has put too much attention on Haval SUVs which have been bringing in huge profits to the company.

Net profits of the company in the first half year dipped 3.22 percent from a year earlier, according to the Securities Daily newspaper on Tuesday.