(Reuters) - China's largest SUV manufacturer Great Wall Motor Co Ltd (>> Great Wall Motor Co Ltd) is interested in bidding for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) (>> Fiat Chrysler Automobiles), a company official said on Monday.

Should Great Wall bid for FCA, which has a market value of almost $20 billion, it would be by far China's largest overseas automotive industry deal. [nL4N1L72KP]

Here are 10 facts about the Chinese automaker:

* The company, named after the Great Wall of China, wasformed in 1984 as Great Wall Automobile Industry. * Its headquarters is in the northeastern Chinese city ofBaoding, ranked as China's most polluted city in 2014. * Great Wall's chairman, Wei Jianjun, took over the firm'sindebted predecessor in 1990, when he was 26 years old. * It began exporting its pickup trucks in 1998, with thefirst vehicles going to the Middle East. * An early spotter of the SUV opportunity, in 2002, GreatWall launched its first SUV model, advertised as being priced atjust 80,000 yuan, below its Haval brand. * Great Wall Motor has over 30 subsidiaries, more than60,000 employees and four vehicle manufacturing bases. Accordingto its 2016 annual report, it ranks seventh in China by sales. * It is the manufacturer of China's best selling pick-up,known as the Steed or the Wingle, which it says has annual salesof over 100,000. * Great Wall Motor reported profit of 10.55 billion yuan in2016, 30.9 percent higher than the previous year. * It sold 1.07 million vehicles in 2016, a 26 percent risefrom 2015, and aims to sell 1.25 million in 2017. * Wei and his family are estimated by Forbes to have a networth of $6.6 billion yuan, putting him in 25th position onForbes' China rich list.

(Reporting by Brenda Goh, editing by David Evans)

Stocks treated in this article : Great Wall Motor Co Ltd, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles