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The automotive industry in China has been the largest in the world measured by automobile unit production since 2008. Since 2009, annual production of automobiles in China accounted for more than 32% of worldwide vehicle production, exceeding both that of the European Union and that of the United States and Japan combined. The traditional "Big Four" domestic car manufacturers are
SAIC Motor SAIC Motor Corp., Ltd. (formerly Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Anting, Shanghai. Founded in 1955, it is currently the largest of the " Big Four" state-owned car manu ...
,
Dongfeng Dongfeng is the romanization of several Chinese names of which most notably "East Wind" (); it may refer to: People's Republic of China * Dongfeng (missile) (), series of ballistic missiles of the People's Liberation Army * Chinese series of die ...
, FAW and Chang’an. Other Chinese car manufacturers are
Geely Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd (ZGH), commonly known as Geely (吉利 "auspicious"), is a Chinese multinational automotive company headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The company is privately held by Chinese billionaire entrepreneur ...
,
Beijing Automotive Group Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd. (BAIC) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Shunyi, Beijing. Founded in 1958, it is the sixth largest automobile manufacturer in China, with 1.723 million sales in 2021. The com ...
, Brilliance Automotive, BYD,
Chery Chery Automobile Co. Ltd., trading as Chery and sometimes known by the pinyin transcription of its Chinese name, ''Qirui'' (), is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wuhu, Anhui, China. Founded in 1997, it is curre ...
, Guangzhou Automobile Group, Great Wall and Jianghuai (JAC). In addition, several multinational manufacturers have partnerships with domestic manufacturers. While most of the cars manufactured in China are sold within China, exports reached 814,300 units in 2011. China's home market provides its automakers a solid base and Chinese economic planners hope to build globally competitive auto companies that will become more and more attractive and reliable over the years. China's automobile industry had mainly Soviet origins (plants and licensed auto design were founded in the 1950s, with the help of the USSR) and had small volumes for the first 30 years of the republic, not exceeding 100–200 thousands per year. Since the early 1990s, it has developed rapidly. China's annual automobile production capacity first exceeded one million in 1992. By 2000, China was producing over two million vehicles. After China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, the development of the automobile market accelerated further. Between 2002 and 2007, China's national automobile market grew by an average 21 percent, or one million vehicles year-on-year. In 2009, China produced 13.79 million automobiles, of which 8 million were
passenger cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...
and 3.41 million were
commercial vehicle A commercial vehicle is any type of motor vehicle used for transporting goods or paying passengers. The United States defines a "commercial motor vehicle" as any self-propelled or towed vehicle used on a public highway in interstate commerce to ...
s and surpassed the United States as the world's largest automobile producer by volume. In 2010, both sales and production topped 18 million units, with 13.76 million passenger cars delivered, in each case the largest by any nation in history. In 2014, total vehicle production in China reached 23.720 million, accounting for 26% of global automotive production.China Corp. 2015 - Auto Industry, DCA Chine-Analyse The number of registered cars, buses, vans, and trucks on the road in China reached 62 million in 2009. The
consultancy A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...
McKinsey & Company estimates that China's car market will grow tenfold between 2005 and 2030. China had about 250 million cars by the end of June 2019, according to the Ministry of Public Security. The main industry group for the Chinese automotive industry is the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (中国汽车工业协会).


Manufacturers and brands

File:SAICMotor logo.png File:Dengfeng Motor Corporation logo.svg File:Geely Logo 2022.svg File:Changan Automobile Logo.svg File:BYD Brazil company.png There exists a grouping of traditional “Big Four” state-owned car manufacturers of China, namely:
SAIC Motor SAIC Motor Corp., Ltd. (formerly Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Anting, Shanghai. Founded in 1955, it is currently the largest of the " Big Four" state-owned car manu ...
, FAW,
Dongfeng Dongfeng is the romanization of several Chinese names of which most notably "East Wind" (); it may refer to: People's Republic of China * Dongfeng (missile) (), series of ballistic missiles of the People's Liberation Army * Chinese series of die ...
, and Chang’an, with car sales of 5.37 million, 3.50 million, 3.28 million and 2.30 million in 2021 respectively. BAIC frequently challenged Chang'an as the fourth largest automaker but has since fallen behind. SAIC Motor Corporation (上海汽车集团股份有限公司), also known as SAIC (上汽) and SAIC-GM (上汽通用), is a Chinese state-owned automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Shanghai. The company had the largest production volume of any Chinese automaker in 2017, making more than 6.9 million vehicles. SAIC sells vehicles under a variety of brands. Brand names that are exclusive to SAIC include
Maxus SAIC Maxus Automotive Co., Ltd. trading as Maxus and sometimes known by the pinyin transcription of its Chinese name, Datong (大通) is a Chinese vehicle brand. Currently, it is a commercial and passenger vehicle manufacturer being a wholly ...
, MG,
Roewe Roewe is a vehicle marque created by the Chinese automaker SAIC Motor in 2006, focuses in luxury cars. Roewe vehicles were initially based on technology acquired from defunct British carmaker MG Rover. SAIC was unable to purchase the rights ...
, and
Yuejin Nanjing Automobile is a state-owned enterprise with a history that dates from 1947,
. Products produced by SAIC joint venture companies are sold under marques including
Baojun Baojun () is a Chinese automobile marque owned by a joint venture of General Motors and SAIC Motor, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile. History The Baojun marque was established in 2010 as a cheaper alternative to existing GM brands Chevrolet and Bui ...
,
Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General M ...
, Chevrolet,
Iveco IVECO, an acronym for Industrial Vehicles Corporation, is an Italian multinational transport vehicle manufacturing company. It designs and builds light, medium, and heavy commercial vehicles. The name IVECO first appeared in 1975 after a merger o ...
, Škoda, Volkswagen, and Wuling.
Dongfeng Motor Corporation Dongfeng Motor Corporation Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wuhan, Hubei. Founded in 1969, it is currently the third largest of the " Big Four" state-owned car manufacturers of China, namely: SAIC Motor, FA ...
(东风汽车公司, abbreviated to 东风) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in
Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...
. The company was the second-largest Chinese vehicle maker in 2017, by production volume, manufacturing over 4.1 million vehicles that year. Its own brands are
Dongfeng Dongfeng is the romanization of several Chinese names of which most notably "East Wind" (); it may refer to: People's Republic of China * Dongfeng (missile) (), series of ballistic missiles of the People's Liberation Army * Chinese series of die ...
,
Venucia Venucia is a car marque of Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company (Dongfeng Nissan), a subsidiary of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. The marque was launched in September 2010 by Dongfeng Nissan. From February 2017 until the end of 2020, Venucia wa ...
and
AEOLUS In Greek mythology, Aeolus or Aiolos (; grc, Αἴολος , ) is a name shared by three mythical characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which A ...
. Joint ventures include
Cummins Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, filtration, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipment, including fuel systems, controls, air ...
, Dana, Honda, Nissan, Infiniti, Stellantis (through PSA Peugeot Citroën), Renault,
Kia Kia Corporation, commonly known as Kia (, ; formerly known as Kyungsung Precision Industry and Kia Motors Corporation), is a South Korean multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is South Korea's second la ...
and
Yulon Yulon Motor Co., Ltd. () is a Taiwanese automaker and importer. Taiwan's biggest automaker as of 2010, Yulon is known for building Nissan models under license. The original romanization of the company's name is Yue Loong, but in 1992 the company ...
. FAW Group Corporation (第一汽车集团, abbreviated to 一汽) is a Chinese state-owned automotive manufacturing company headquartered in
Changchun Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 c ...
. In 2017, the company ranked third in terms of output making 3.3 million vehicles. FAW sells products under at least ten different brands including its own and
Besturn Bestune (), previously known as Besturn, is an automotive marque owned by the Chinese automaker FAW Group. With products based on older Mazda sedans, Besturn targets upper middle-class Chinese consumers. FAW, Besturn's owner, also manufactures t ...
/Bēnténg, Dario, Haima, Hongqi, Jiaxing, Jie Fang, Jilin, Oley, Jie Fang and Yuan Zheng, and
Tianjin Xiali Tianjin FAW (officially Tianjin FAW Xiali Automobile Co., Ltd.) is an automobile company based in Tianjin, China and a subsidiary of FAW Group. Its principal activity is the design, development, manufacture and distribution of automobiles sold un ...
. FAW joint ventures sell
Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The o ...
, General Motors,
Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one mi ...
, Toyota and Volkswagen.
Chang'an Automobile Group Chang'an Automobile Co., Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Jiangbei, Chongqing.Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Cou ...
, and is a state-owned enterprise. In 2017, the company ranked fourth in terms of output making 2.8 million vehicles in 2017. Changan designs, develops, manufactures and sells passenger cars sold under the Changan brand and commercial vehicles sold under the Chana brand. Foreign joint venture companies include
Suzuki is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal c ...
,
Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...
,
Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one mi ...
and PSA Peugeot Citroën.
BAIC Group Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd. (BAIC) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Shunyi, Beijing. Founded in 1958, it is the sixth largest automobile manufacturer in China, with 1.723 million sales in 2021. The com ...
, also known as Beiqi (, abbreviated to 北汽), is a state-owned enterprise and holding company of several Chinese automobile and machine manufacturers located in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
. In 2014, the company ranked fifth in terms of output making 2.5 million vehicles. Its principal subsidiaries include the passenger car maker
BAIC Motor BAIC Motor Corporation Limited is a Chinese automaker headquartered in Beijing. The H shares (foreigner share in offshore market) of the company were traded in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It was part of BAIC Group, itself a subsidiary of Beij ...
, the military vehicle and
SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definiti ...
maker
BAW Beijing Automobile Works Co., Ltd. (BAW) () is a Chinese car manufacturer based in Beijing and a subsidiary of BAIC Group. BAW produces light off-road vehicles and trucks. BAW produces civilian as well as military vehicles. History Beijing Au ...
and the truck, bus and agricultural equipment maker Foton Motor. BAIC's parent is the Beijing Municipal Government's State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC). It has foreign joint ventures with Hyundai and Mercedes-Benz. Other notable Chinese automotive manufacturers include: BYD, is an auto manufacturer founded by
BYD Company BYD Co. Ltd. ("Build Your Dreams" Chinese: 比亚迪股份有限公司) is a publicly listed Chinese conglomerate manufacturing company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It was founded by Wang Chuanfu in February 1995.GAC (Guangzhou Automobile Group), is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Guangzhou. They were the sixth biggest manufacturer in 2017, manufacturing over 2 million vehicles in 2017. GAC sells passenger cars under the Trumpchi brand. In China, they are more known for their foreign joint-venture with Fiat, Honda, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, and Toyota.
Geely Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd (ZGH), commonly known as Geely (吉利 "auspicious"), is a Chinese multinational automotive company headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The company is privately held by Chinese billionaire entrepreneur ...
, is the biggest privately owned automobile manufacturer and seventh biggest manufacturer overall in China. Their flagship brand Geely Auto became the top Chinese car brand in 2017. Currently one of the fastest growing automotive groups in the world, Geely is known for its ownership of the Swedish luxury car brand
Volvo Cars Volvo Cars ( sv, Volvo personvagnar, styled VOLVO in the company's logo) is a Sweden, Swedish multinational manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Torslanda, Gothenburg. The company manufactures SUVs, station wagons, and sedans. The co ...
, its performance counterpart Polestar, and the British sports car company Lotus. In China, their passenger car brands include Geely Auto, Volvo Cars, and Lynk & Co. Great Wall, the eighth biggest manufacturer in 2017 and the largest manufacturer of SUVs. Great Wall sells vehicles under the brands of Haval and WEY. Brilliance Auto, is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer based in Shenyang. They were the ninth biggest manufacturer in 2017. They have a foreign joint venture with BMW and also sells passenger vehicles under their own brand Brilliance.
Chery Chery Automobile Co. Ltd., trading as Chery and sometimes known by the pinyin transcription of its Chinese name, ''Qirui'' (), is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wuhu, Anhui, China. Founded in 1997, it is curre ...
, a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer based in Anhui. They were the tenth biggest manufacturer in 2017. They have a foreign joint venture with Jaguar Land Rover for the production of Jaguar and Land Rover cars in China. They also sell cars under the Chery brand and Qoros brand.


List of Chinese automobile manufacturers by marques and foreign JVs


Foreign manufacturer joint ventures

Companies from other countries with joint manufacturing ventures in China include Daimler-Benz, General Motors. The latter makes numerous cars in China in four factories, especially
Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General M ...
, but also some Chevrolet and
Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...
models, in a 50/50 joint-venture with SAIC Motor, formerly known as Shanghai General Motors Company Ltd.Saic General Motors Corp Ltd: Company Profile - Bloomberg
/ref> In November 2018, the company announced new Chevrolet models for the Chinese market, including an extended-wheelbase Malibu XL, a new Chevy SUV concept a new Monza. In 2001, 1.5 million people were employed in this industry in China, and contributed 12 billion U.S. dollars to the economy, which accounts for 5% of the total value added to China's manufacturing industry. Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd is a joint venture between BAIC Motor and Daimler AG. As of 22 November 2018, a full two million Mercedes-Benz vehicles had been built in China by this alliance. At about the same time, the company announced the final development of a new Mercedes-Benz A-Class L sedan for China, in five variants, to "rival the China-made Audi A3 sedan and the BMW Series 1 sedan". Daimler and another partner,
BYD Auto BYD Auto Co., Ltd. ("Build Your Dreams") is the automotive subsidiary of the publicly-listed Chinese multinational manufacturer BYD Company, headquartered in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China. It was founded in January 2003, following BYD Co ...
(backed by Warren Buffett), were already manufacturing an electric car for the Chinese market, the Denza, with an improved Denza 500 announced in March 2018. Apparently, Daimler-Benz was also having discussions about making battery-powered Smart cars in China with BYD Auto, according to an August 2018 report; the company would not comment on this topic. At the time, the petrol-powered Smart car was being imported into China. Honda Motor Co has a joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC Group) and planned to invest 3.27 billion yuan ($469 million) in 2019 in new-energy vehicle manufacturing in China, probably with the Trumpchi badge. Toyota's joint venture is with GAC and the companies planned to build an electric vehicle under the GAC logo. Nissan operates in China under a joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Group Co Ltd. A report in early 2018 indicated that the alliance planned to build a new manufacturing plant in Wuhan, China in addition to expanding the Dongfeng plant in Changzhou to increase capacity. A late August update stated that Nissan and Dongfeng Group planned to invest roughly $900 million to eventually increase the production of Nissan vehicles in China to as many as 2.1 million per year. By September 1, 2018, Nissan's first electric sedan for the Chinese market, the Sylphy Zero Emission, was in production. VW and Audi cars are manufactured in China by
Volkswagen Group China Volkswagen Group China (VGC; 大众汽车(中国)) is a division of the German automotive concern Volkswagen Group in the People's Republic of China. Volkswagen Group China enjoys sales of about 3.14 million cars (2017) in the Chinese market ...
under two joint-venture partnerships:
FAW-Volkswagen FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co., Ltd. is a joint venture between FAW Group and Volkswagen Group which manufactures Audi and Volkswagen marque passenger cars for sale in China. It was founded on 6 February 1991. FAW-VW is headquartered in the so ...
and SAIC Volkswagen. They have sold 30 million cars as of November 2018. In 2018, the alliance opened three new FAW-Volkswagen plants in China: in Qingdao, Foshan and Tianjin. By 2019, the Audi expected to be making seven new SUV vehicle models in China. An executive with FAW-Volkswagen's Audi division said that two million China-made Audi cars will be sold in the country by 2020. As of the end of 2017, the total to date was 777,000. The joint venture SAIC Volkswagen was also in the process of building an electric-car plant in Anting, near Shanghai by late 2018; it was expected to make 300,000 e-vehicles per year, starting in 2020. BMW and Chinese partner Brilliance Automotive Group Holdings expected to make 520,000 cars in China during 2019. In October 2018, the German company announced that it will spend €3.6bn ($4.16 billion) to increase ownership of Brilliance Automotive from 50% to 75%. BMW also planned to invest over €3bn to boost manufacturing in China as part of a goal to manufacture more than 650,000 units with Brilliance, starting in the early 2020s. The German company also made an alliance with Great Wall Motor to build electric-powered Mini cars in China for the domestic market. Jaguar Land Rover operates a joint venture with Chery. A news report in July 2018 suggested that the company was considering increasing their investment to create a new model for China; a late October report about the Jaguar Land Rover turnaround plan, however, did not outline any plan to proceed with this concept. The entire Volvo Cars company has been owned by the Chinese company Geely since 2010 and manufactures most of the XC60 vehicles in China for export to various countries as well as the local market. Other cars made in China (as of late 2018) for both the local market and for export include the Buick Envision, Ford Focus Active, Volvo S90 and the Cadillac CT-6 plug-in. (Prohibitive tariffs announced by the US in 2018 were expected to significantly reduce auto exports to that country.) Geeley also has investments in Daimler, AB Volvo (the manufacturer of trucks, buses, construction equipment, and engines) and Lotus. In October 2018, Ford and
Baidu Baidu, Inc. ( ; , meaning "hundred times") is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and artificial intelligence (AI), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the la ...
announced that they were planning to start testing autonomous vehicles together in Beijing roads by year end, using Baidu's "technological know-how and understanding of China together with Ford's vehicle expertise".


History

The first automobile in China was purchased from Hong Kong in 1902 by Yuan Shikai and gifted to
Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese noblewoman, concubine and later regent who effectively controlle ...
. It was later put on display in the Summer Palace Museum. During the early twentieth century, major western automobile manufacturers such as the Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Mercedes-Benz had plants operating in Shanghai. China's automobile industry had mainly Soviet origins (plants and licensed auto design were founded in the 1950s, with the help of the USSR) and had small volumes for the first 30 years of the republic, not exceeding 100–200 thousands per year. Since the early 1990s, it has developed rapidly. China's annual automobile production capacity first exceeded one million in 1992. By 2000, China was producing over two million vehicles. After China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, the development of the automobile market accelerated further. Between 2002 and 2007, China's national automobile market grew by an average 21 percent, or one million vehicles year-on-year. In 2009, China produced 13.79 million automobiles, of which 8 million were
passenger cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...
and 3.41 million were
commercial vehicle A commercial vehicle is any type of motor vehicle used for transporting goods or paying passengers. The United States defines a "commercial motor vehicle" as any self-propelled or towed vehicle used on a public highway in interstate commerce to ...
s and surpassed the United States as the world's largest automobile producer by volume. In 2010, both sales and production topped 18 million units, with 13.76 million passenger cars delivered, in each case the largest by any nation in history. In 2014, total vehicle production in China reached 23.720 million, accounting for 26% of global automotive production.


1928 to 1949

The first Chinese built motor vehicle was a truck called the ''Ming Sheng''. It was designed by Daniel F Myers and a prototype was made at the Liao Ning Trench Mortar Arsenal, Shenyang. The prototype was completed on May 31, 1931, for Zhang Xueliang. Prior to production commencing, the factory was bombed by the invading Japanese and production never commenced. A fellow general,
Yang Hucheng Yang Hucheng () (26 November 1893 – 6 September 1949) was a Chinese general during the Warlord Era of Republican China and Kuomintang general during the Chinese Civil War. Yang Hucheng joined the Xinhai Revolution in his youth and had be ...
, patronized the inventor Tang Zhongming to make a new type of automobile engine powered by charcoal. In 1932 Tang founded the Chung Ming Machinery Co. Ltd. in Shanghai to produce the engines. Charcoal powered vehicles were mainly used during the Second Sino-Japanese War in China because of fuel shortages. Tung oil was also used during the war as a petroleum substitute. One source states that Du Yuming designed a car in 1937, but did not make it until 1943 after having been forced to move because of the war. No further information has been found about it.


1949 to 1980

Several vehicle assembly factories were set up in the 1950s and 1960s. They were
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
(today is
Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corporation Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd. (BAIC) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Shunyi, Beijing. Founded in 1958, it is the sixth largest automobile manufacturer in China, with 1.723 million sales in 2021. The com ...
), Shanghai (today is
Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation SAIC Motor Corp., Ltd. (formerly Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Anting, Shanghai. Founded in 1955, it is currently the largest of the " Big Four" state-owned car man ...
), Nanjing (later
Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corporation Nanjing Automobile is a state-owned enterprise with a history that dates from 1947,
, merged with SAIC), and Jinan (evolving into
China National Heavy Duty Truck Group China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co., Ltd., CNHTC or Sinotruk Group is a Chinese state-owned truck manufacturer headquartered in Jinan, Shandong province. It is currently the third largest truck manufacturer in Mainland China. It is known f ...
). The Second Automobile Works (later
Dongfeng Motor Corporation Dongfeng Motor Corporation Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wuhan, Hubei. Founded in 1969, it is currently the third largest of the " Big Four" state-owned car manufacturers of China, namely: SAIC Motor, FA ...
) was founded in 1968. The first Chinese production vehicles were made by the
First Automobile Works China FAW Group Corp., Ltd. (First Automobile Works) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Changchun, Jilin.
in 1956, a truck called the
Jiefang CA-30 The Jiefang CA-30 is a military truck used widely by the Chinese People's Liberation Army. It is a licensed-produced Soviet ZIL-157 6x6 army truck, and looks similar to original, except that it has square fenders rather than round fenders as on ...
. This was followed on March 10, 1958, by the 2½ ton light duty truck (NJ130), which was based on the Russian GAZ-51, was produced in Nanjing. The truck was named Yuejin (meaning "leap forward") by China's First Ministry of Industrial Machinery. In June 1958 the Nanjing Automobile Works, previously a vehicle servicing unit of the Army, was established. Production continued until the last truck (NJ134) rolled off the assembly line on July 9, 1987. Cumulative production was 161,988 units (including models NJ130, NJ230, NJ135 and NJ134). The first production automobiles were the
Dongfeng CA71 The Dongfeng CA71 () is a medium-sized limousine made by the Chinese automobile manufacturer First Automotive Works (FAW) and produced in small numbers in 1958. It was the first passenger car to be produced entirely in China.Beijing Automobile Mu ...
,
Hongqi CA72 The Hongqi CA72 is a car produced by FAW Hongqi. It was the company's first production automobile and the first representative sedan that was constructed and built in China. Produced from 1959 until 1963, the CA72 was only available to state ins ...
, Feng Huang (later known as the
Shanghai SH760 The Shanghai SH760 is a car produced in China from 1965 to 1991 primarily for government officials not important enough to warrant a FAW Hongqi and as a taxi. The design was based on the Mercedes-Benz 220S (W180) from 1954, with modified front a ...
) all from 1958.


1980 to 1990

The passenger car industry was a minor part of vehicle production during the first three decades of China's socialist economy. As late as 1985, the country produced a total of only 5,200 cars. To announce that the desire for consumer goods was no longer politically suspect and stimulate personal spending, while also advertising the opening of the Chinese market to foreign producers, a fabricated news story about China's first peasant to own a car was distributed across the world. Sun Guiying, a chicken farmer from near Beijing was touted as having purchased a silver Toyota Publica with her earnings. While the article was largely fraudulent (Mrs. Guiying did not know how to drive, and her husband was a senior official rather than a peasant), the message came across loud and clear. Car sales increased dramatically, although they were almost entirely purchased by ''danweis'' ( work unitsprivate car ownership was virtually unknown at the time, in spite of the Sun Guiying story). As domestic production was very limited, import totals rose dramatically, despite a 260 per cent import duty on foreign vehicles. Before 1984, the dominant exporter of cars to China had been the Soviet Union. In 1984, Japan's vehicle exports to China increased sevenfold (from 10,800 to 85,000) and by mid-1985 China had become Japan's second biggest export market after the US. The country spent some $3 billion to import more than 350,000 vehicles (including 106,000 cars and 111,000 trucks) in 1985 alone. Three taxi companies in particular thirsted for Japanese cars, such as
Toyota Crown The is an automobile which has been produced by Toyota in Japan since 1955. It is primarily a line of mid-size luxury cars that is marketed as an upmarket offering in the Toyota lineup. Introduced in 1955 as the Toyopet Crown, it has serve ...
s and Nissan Bluebirds. As this spending binge began to lead to a severe trade deficit, the Chinese leadership put on the brakes, both through propaganda efforts and by making foreign exchange much less accessible.Mann, pp. 151–152 Customs duties on imported goods were raised in March 1985 and a new "regulatory tax" was added a little later. In September 1985, a two-year moratorium on nearly all vehicle imports was imposed. While limiting imports, China also tried to increase local production by boosting the various existing joint-venture passenger car production agreements, as well as adding new ones. In 1983,
American Motors Corporation American Motors Corporation (AMC; commonly referred to as American Motors) was an American automobile manufacturing company formed by the merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company on May 1, 1954. At the time, it was the ...
(AMC, later acquired by
Chrysler Corporation Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...
) signed a 20-year contract to produce their Jeep-model vehicles in Beijing. The following year, Germany's Volkswagen signed a 25-year contract to make passenger cars in Shanghai, and France's
Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and then ...
agreed to another passenger car project to make vehicles in the prosperous southern city of Guangzhou. These early joint ventures did not allow the Chinese to borrow much foreign technology, as
knock-down kit A knock-down kit (also knockdown kit, knocked-down kit, or simply knockdown or KD) is a collection of parts required to assemble a product. The parts are typically manufactured in one country or region, then exported to another country or region ...
assembly made up the majority of manufacturing activities; tooling may not have been allowed to slip past borders.


1990 to present

Several enterprises entered the automobile industry since 1994. Some of them are originated from defense industry, such as
Chang'an Motors Chang'an Automobile Co., Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Jiangbei, Chongqing.Changhe Changhe, officially Jiangxi Changhe Automobile Co Ltd, is a Chinese automobile manufacturer based in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China.Hafei Motor Hafei, officially Hafei Motor Co., Ltd. (), is a Chinese automaker currently operating as a subsidiary of Changan Ford, and manufacturing passenger vehicles. It previously independently manufactured sedans, MPVs, mini vehicles, small trucks, an ...
; some were developed from old state-owned companies, such as
BYD Auto BYD Auto Co., Ltd. ("Build Your Dreams") is the automotive subsidiary of the publicly-listed Chinese multinational manufacturer BYD Company, headquartered in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China. It was founded in January 2003, following BYD Co ...
,
Brilliance China Auto Huachen Automotive Group Holdings Co. Ltd., known for its brand name Brilliance Auto Group, was a Chinese multinational automobile manufacturer holding company headquartered in Shenyang. Its products include automobiles, microvans, and automotive ...
,
Chery Automobile Chery Automobile Co. Ltd., trading as Chery and sometimes known by the pinyin transcription of its Chinese name, ''Qirui'' (), is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wuhu, Anhui, China. Founded in 1997, it is curr ...
, and
Changfeng Automobile GAC Changfeng Motor Co Ltd is a Chinese automobile manufacturer wholly owned by GAC Group but which originated as a branch of the People's Liberation Army. Changfeng produced mainly light trucks, and as of 2008 the majority of their sales had been ...
. Others are private-owned companies, such as
Geely Automobile Geely Auto is the primary car marque of Chinese group Geely. Listed as Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based ...
and Great Wall Motors. On February 29, 2016, the
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the Chinese government, established in March 2008, is the state agency of the People's Republic of China responsible for regulation and development of the postal service, Internet, wireles ...
shut down 13 automobile manufacturers that did not meet mandatory production evaluations for two consecutive years. The number of registered cars, buses, vans, and trucks on the road in China reached 62 million in 2009, with cars accounting for two-thirds of that number, according to the traffic bureau of the Ministry of Public Security. At that time, it was expected to increase to 200 million by 2020. In fact, by March 2017, there were 300.3 million registered vehicles. A 2018 analysis published by the University of California predicted that up to 419 million vehicles would be registered by 2022 and over 500 million by 2030. Many of the cars on the roads in China are imports. In 2017, the country imported 1.25 million cars according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Both imports to the US and sales of US made vehicles were expected to decline in late 2018 and in 2019 due to increased tariffs by both the United States and China in July 2018. Not many of the imports were from the US even prior to 2018. As of 2017, American automakers exported roughly 250,000 cars to China per annum and imported about 50,000 from China. The government is limiting the number of conventionally-powered new cars that are licensed each year, particularly in Beijing where the wait for a license plate in 2018 was roughly five years. Each such plate was priced at US$14,300, an amount that would almost be adequate to buy a small economy car. Licenses for electric vehicles on the other hand, can be obtained quite quickly.


Best-selling brands in China


2017

According to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (C.A.A.M), automakers in China delivered 28,226,616 passenger and light commercial vehicles in 2017. Volkswagen remained the best-selling brand followed by Honda. In 2017, Geely surprised everyone by rocketing to become the third best-selling brand in China and the top Chinese brand in the market. Korean and American brands suffered from lackluster sales with Hyundai dropping from the top ten and GM and Ford both falling below local Chinese brands. Below is a breakdown of the deliveries by brand. The best selling specific model in 2017 was the Wuling Hong Guang minivan made in partnership with SAIC-GM, formerly known as Shanghai General Motors Company Ltd. In fact, five of the top-15 models were produced by SAIC-GM. Volkswagen had three models in the top-15, including the number-two Lavida while Geely, Great Wall, and Guangzhou Automotive Corp (GAC) models accounted for several models on that list. Number three of the top-15 belonged to the Nissan Bluebird Sylphy/Sylphy, number four to the Haval H6 and number five to the VW New Santana.


2016

Source:


Controversies


Copying claims controversy

Several Chinese car makers have been accused of copying designs of other established companies.


BYD

Some BYD cars have historically appeared similar to those of other brands including Lexus, Toyota, Honda,
Mercedes Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
, and Porsche.


Chery

GM executives claimed design duplication of the Chery QQ to the Daewoo Matiz, which may extend to interchangeable parts. GM China Group stated the two vehicles, "shared remarkably identical body structure, exterior design, interior design and key components." After initial mediation attempts failed, GM Daewoo brought a case against Chery in a Shanghai court, but by 2005, jurisdiction had been moved to the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court. Around that time Chinese state officials, including a vice-minister of commerce and a vice-director of the State Intellectual Property Office, publicly supported Chery. It was suggested that GM may have not patented its technology.


Great Wall Motor

Fiat has claimed that a Great Wall
A-segment The A-segment is the 1st category in the passenger car classification system defined by the European Commission. It is used for city cars, the smallest category of passenger cars defined. A-segment sales represent approx. 7-8% of the market in ...
car, the Peri (''Jing Ling'' in China), is a copy of its 2nd-generation Fiat Panda. A 2008
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...
Turin court ruling substantiated the claim stating that the Great Wall Peri, “doesn't look like a different car but is a Fiat Panda with a different front end.”


Landwind

Landwind Landwind is an automobile marque owned by the Chinese automaker Jiangling Holdings, Jiangling Motor Holding (JMH), a joint venture between Jiangxi Guokong Automotive Investment Corporation (50%), JMCG, Jiangling Motors Corporation Group (25%) and ...
, a new joint venture between
Changan Auto Chang'an Automobile Co., Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Jiangbei, Chongqing.Jiangling Motors Jiangling Motors Corporation Limited, abbreviated JMC, is a Chinese automobile manufacturer. According to company and press reports, the largest shareholder of JMC is Jiangling Investment, a company controlled equally by the state-owned enterpris ...
, launched the
Landwind X7 The Landwind X7 is a compact crossover SUV produced by Chinese car manufacturer Landwind from August 2015 to March 2019. The car received global media attention, because the car was regarded as a copy of the Range Rover Evoque. As a result, Jagu ...
SUV in 2014.
Jaguar Land Rover Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC is the holding company of Jaguar Land Rover Limited (also known as JLR), and is a British multinational automobile manufacturer which produces luxury vehicles and sport utility vehicles. Jaguar Land Rover is a ...
regarded it as a copy of the Range Rover Evoque, which is produced locally by
Chery Jaguar Land Rover Chery Jaguar Land Rover (officially Chery Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Company Ltd.) is an automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Changshu, China. A 50:50 joint venture between UK-headquartered Jaguar Land Rover, itself a subsidi ...
, and tried unsuccessfully to stop its production. Although the designs of the cars are similar, the X7 was almost three times as cheap as the Evoque when the former hit the market. Prices of the X7 started at 135,000 renminbi (US$21,700 as of August 2015), while the starting price of the Evoque amounted to ¥398,000 (US$64,000 as of August 2015). Kits for the X7 are sold in China in order to make the car look more like the Evoque. Such kits include the grille, logos, and badges of the Evoque. Jaguar Land Rover's first response came during the Guangzhou Auto Show in November 2014, when car designer
Ian Callum Ian Stuart Callum (born 30 July 1954) is a Scottish car designer who has worked for Ford, TWR, and Aston Martin. In 1999 he became the Director of Design for Jaguar Cars, later Jaguar Land Rover, a position he held until mid 2019. In 2019 ...
, who works for Jaguar, tweeted pictures of the car and pointed out the resemblance between the X7 and the Evoque. Furthermore, the company stated that it was investigating whether the Evoque's design elements were copied by Jiangling Motors, Landwind's parent company, and that it would "take whatever steps are appropriate to protect its intellectual property." Jaguar Land Rover later went to court in China, but its complaints were dismissed in early 2015. At the 2015 edition of Auto Shanghai, Jaguar Land Rover's CEO
Ralf Speth Sir Ralf Dieter Speth (born 9 September 1955) is a German automotive executive and a director of Indian company Tata Sons since 2016. From 2010 to 2020, he was the chief executive officer of Jaguar Land Rover. He has also had roles with BMW, Li ...
said he regretted "that all of a sudden, copy-paste is coming up again." He added that his company could not do anything, since there were no laws against copying cars. Both Jaguar Land Rover and Jiangling Motors had filed design patents for the Evoque and the X7, respectively, but both patents were annulled in 2016. The patent for the exterior design of the Evoque in China was declared invalid in April by the Chinese intellectual property regulator, because the car was unveiled before the patent was filed in China in November 2011. The nullification happened at the request of Jiangling Motors. The X7's patent was annulled on May 16 at Jaguar Land Rover's request, because the design was too related to the Evoque's design. In June 2016, Jaguar Land Rover took legal action against Jiangling Motors again in a
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 2 ...
court. The car manufacturer blamed Jiangling for copyright infringement and
unfair competition Unfair may refer to: * Double Taz and Double LeBron James in multiverses '' fair''; unfairness or injustice * ''Unfair'' (drama), Japanese television series * '' Unfair: The Movie'' * Unfair (song), a song by South Korean boy group EXO ">China's Carmakers Have a Strong Home Front in the Trump Trade War - Bloomberg
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See also

* Economy of China *
Electric vehicle industry in China The electric vehicle industry in China is the largest in the world, accounting for around 57.4% of global production of electric vehicles (EVs) and around 500,000 exports in 2021. In 2021, CAAM reported China had sold 3.34 million passenger elec ...
* Motorcycle industry in China *
Military vehicles of China A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
*
Pollution in China Pollution in China is one aspect of the broader topic of environmental issues in China. Various forms of pollution have increased as China has industrialised, which has caused widespread environmental health problems.Jared Diamond, '' Collapse: ...
* Renewable electricity * Renewable energy in China


References


External links


Anderson, Greg, ''Designated Drivers: How China Plans to Dominate the Global Auto Industry'', book talk at the USC U.S.-China Institute, 2012.China Association of Automobile ManufacturersStatistical Information Network of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers
(in Chinese)
China Society of Automotive EngineeringChina Council for the Promotion of International Trade Branch of the automotive industryChina National Automotive Industry InternationalChina Corp. 2015 - Auto Industry
CA Chine-AnalysePublished May, 2015 {{Navboxes, list1= {{Automotive industry {{S&T in China {{Transport in China {{Economy of China