(Yicai Global) July 11 -- Sales at Great Wall Motor Co. [SHA:601633; HK:2333] rose moderately in the first half of this year from the year before, but declined in June, data show.

Sales of sport utility vehicles in general and the Haval H1, H5 and H7 in particular all dropped in June, while sales of H8, a premium SUV model, surged 72 percent annually.  

Great Wall Motor sold 460,743 cars in the first half, up 2.33 yearly percentage points, including 3,834 exported vehicles, an increase of 248.86 percent per year, per a production and sales bulletin the carmaker outed July 9.

The company sold 64,471 cars in June, down 1.7 percent from the same period a year ago.

Great Wall Motor is China's largest producer of SUVs and pickup trucks and was listed in Hong Kong's H-share market and the domestic A-share market in 2003 and 2011, respectively. It owns the Haval and Great Wall brands and sells sedans in addition to SUVs and pickups.

The company will roll out three SUV models including Haval M6, WEY-branded VV 7 Plug-in Hybrid and VV 5 Plug-in Hybrid in the second half to boost future sales.