As revealed at the recent Beijing Motor Show, Chinese manufacturer Great Wall Motor (GWM) is aiming to compete with the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren with the development of a V8-powered supercar. Employing an ex-McLaren engineer to help it do so is an indication of just how serious it is.

In Australia, most talk around Chinese manufacturing, and Chinese cars generally is aimed squarely at electrification, industry-leading battery technology and the furthering of hybrid and plug-in hybrid performance. This time though, GWM is heading in a different direction, following the announcement of a new V8 engine to power a supercar.

Set to be revealed in 2027 as part of GWM sub brand GWM GF, specific details haven’t yet been revealed, but GWM did say at the Beijing Motor Show that the supercar will be driven by a mid-mounted turbocharged, 4.0-litre V8, sitting inside a carbon-fibre monocoque chassis. GWM Chairman Jack Wei told assembled media in Beijing, “It’s a key tool for brand building”.

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Ex-McLaren engineer Adam Thomson (below) knows a thing or two about mid-engined supercars and will be designing the GWM GF from the ground up, with the intention that the hybrid V8 powertrain would develop an SF-90-challenging 1000kW.

Thomson told media that the project was already 12 months in when he arrived, but the initial concepts were scrapped in favour of his architecture, which will be ready to break cover in road-going form in 2027.

The choice to go with a ground-up design is a bold choice, but according to Thomson, sharing componentry with another manufacturer wasn’t the best option. “A lot of the last three years of work is absolutely from a blank sheet of paper, from the ground up, everything,” he said.

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“Choosing the right tools, choosing the right partners to work with, choosing the right people we need to hire, choosing the right materials, developing a package concept, validating the com-gens we do digitally. It’s like starting a new car company again, inside a current car company.”

Recent announcements such as this one from GWM show just how serious Chinese manufacturers are about not just dominating the electric or hybrid vehicle space. Clearly manufacturers have the desire to enter segments traditionally dominated by legacy European manufacturers. Given the depth of engineering and the significance of their research and development budgets, it might prove to be foolhardy to bet against them.