Youngman (officially China Youngman Automobile Group Co., Ltd.) () was a Chinese manufacturer of

buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for ...

and trucks located in

Jinhua , alternately romanized as Kinhwa, is a prefecture-level city in central Zhejiang province in eastern China. It borders the provincial capital of Hangzhou to the northwest, Quzhou to the southwest, Lishui to the south, Taizhou to the eas ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by ...

province. The company was founded in 2001 by

Pang Qingnian Pang Qingnian (; born 1956) is a Chinese businessman and owner of Youngman Inc. He was born in Zhejiang province. Pang was honored as a national excellent entrepreneur in 1993 and founded Youngman in 2001. He has one child, Rachel Pang Rachel ...

and also used to manufacture automobiles. However, its passenger car business appears to have ceased operation by mid-2015.

Name

"Youngman" is an English literalization of the name of the company's founder, Pang Qingnian.

History

Youngman was founded in 2001 by

. In the early-2000s the company formed joint ventures with two German companies - a bus manufacturing venture with

Neoplan Neoplan Bus GmbH is a German automotive company that manufactures buses, trolleybuses and coaches. It is a subsidiary of MAN Truck & Bus SE. History Foundations The company was founded by Gottlob Auwärter in Stuttgart in 1935, and m ...

(at the time known as ''Gottlob Auwärter GmbH & Co. KG'') and a truck manufacturing venture with

MAN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chrom ...

. After an increase of orders, the manufacturer has built plants in the cities of

Jinan Jinan (), Postal Map Romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized as Tsinan, is the Capital (political), capital of Shandong province in East China, Eastern China. With a population of 9.2 million, it is the second-largest city i ...

Tai'an Tai'an () is a prefecture-level city in Western Shandong Province of the People's Republic of China. Centered on Mount Tai, the city borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the north, Zibo to the east, Linyi to the southeast, Liaocheng to ...

Lianyungang Lianyungang () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province, China. It borders Yancheng to its southeast, Huai'an and Suqian to its south, Xuzhou to its southwest, and the province of Shandong to its north. Its name derives ...

Quzhou Quzhou is a prefecture-level city in western Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the upper course of the Qiantang River, it borders Hangzhou to the north, Jinhua to the east, Lishui to the southeast, and the provinces o ...

and some other places to meet the high number of orders. In September 2006 Youngman established a joint venture with the Iranian state-owned carmaker

Iran Khodro Iran Khodro ( fa, ایران‌خودرو, ''Irân Xodro''), branded as IKCO, is an Iranian automaker headquartered in Tehran. IKCO was founded in 1962 as Iran National (, ''Irân Nâsionâl''). The public company manufactures vehicles, includin ...

for the manufacture of Iran Khodro's

Samand The IKCO Samand is an Iranian sedan produced by IKCO. The Samand production project began in 2001 and the first car was sold in 2001. The Samand inherits the mantle of Iran's national automobile from the Paykan, which was sold by Iran Khodro f ...

and Soren models at Youngman's Tai'an plant, with parts supplied by

PSA Peugeot Citroën The PSA Group (), legally known as Peugeot S.A. (Peugeot Société Anonyme, trading as Groupe PSA; formerly known as PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) was a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive ma ...

Proton

In November 2006, Youngman became the official Chinese importer for the British sports car maker

Lotus Cars Lotus Cars Limited is a British automotive company headquartered in Norfolk, England which manufactures sports cars and racing cars noted for their light weight and fine handling characteristics. Lotus was previously involved in Formula On ...

. In another joint-venture with the Lotus Group which was closed in December 2008, Youngman assembled Lotus and

Europestar Europestar (, ) is a Chinese automotive sub-brand of the British Lotus Group plc. The brand is the result of the joint-venture with the Chinese Jinhua Youngman Vehicle Co., Ltd.Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

for the Domestic Chinese and export market. The units receive a Chinese independent brand to differentiate itself from the British sports car models. With the Lotus joint venture, Youngman is engaged in secondary activities as the exclusive importer of American automotive brand ZAP. Both brands had its China debut at the Beijing International Auto Show in 2009. In 2007, Youngman acquired the American electric car maker

Detroit Electric (company) The Detroit Electric SP.01 is a proposed battery electric vehicle designed by the 'Detroit Electric'' company and originally unveiled to the media in Detroit and then publicly at the Shanghai Motor Show in 2013 and formally launched in the UK in ...

, with the intention of manufacturing vehicles for the North American market. In May 2008 it was reported that Youngman had signed two major agreements with the Malaysian carmaker Proton. The first was for the import of 30,000

Proton Gen-2 A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...

models from Malaysia to China over two years, to be sold under the

Europestar Europestar (, ) is a Chinese automotive sub-brand of the British Lotus Group plc. The brand is the result of the joint-venture with the Chinese Jinhua Youngman Vehicle Co., Ltd. Between mid-2009 and February 2015, Youngman Lotus had reported total production figures of 196,234 rebadged CKD GEN-2 and

Persona A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatri ...

units, of which 189,872 were reportedly sold. However, by mid-2015, the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) stopped reporting Youngman Lotus sales numbers because they were "way off" from registration numbers. Youngman Lotus had ceased production and sales altogether by mid-2015. In February 2015, Proton announced that they would revive their joint venture with

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its c ...

-based Goldstar, and would not renew their contract with Youngman.

Saab

On 28 October 2011 it was reported that Youngman and the Chinese automotive retailer Pang Da Automobile Trade Co had agreed a joint 100-million

euro The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

(

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

140 million) takeover of the Swedish carmaker

Saab Automobile Saab Automobile AB () is a defunct car manufacturer that was founded in Sweden in 1945 when its parent company, Saab AB, began a project to design a small automobile. The first production model, the Saab 92, was launched in 1949. In 1968 th ...

and its

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

dealer network unit from

Swedish Automobile Spyker Cars (, ) is a Dutch sports car marque. The modern Spyker Cars held the legal rights to the brand name. The company's motto is "''Nulla tenaci invia est via''", Latin for "For the tenacious, no road is impassable". The marque's logo dis ...

, with Youngman and Pang Da taking 60 and 40 percent stakes respectively. Both Chinese companies pledged to invest 610 million euros ($844 million), prompting a court to extend the manufacturer's protection against creditors. In December 2011 General Motors (GM) blocked the Chinese buy out, since GM has technology licenses in SAAB. Saab's restructuring process was granted, and the plan was that in 2014 the company would have had a positive

equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the diff ...

. The restructuring process would have removed 500 employees from Saab, saving about €100,000.00, according to the restructuring plan. General Motors rejected the deal with Youngman and Pang Da on 7 November 2011, although unsuccessful discussion to convince GM continued for a month. On 19 December 2011, chairman Victor Muller was forced to file Saab Automobile for bankruptcy following the failed buyout by a Chinese consortium, which was blocked by former parent GM to prevent technology transfer. On 6 March 2012 an Indian news paper reported that at least two companies have placed bids for complete SAAB Automobile buy out. These are

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

Mahindra and Mahindra Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M) is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing corporation headquartered in Mumbai. It was established in 1945 as Mahindra & Mohammed and later renamed as Mahindra & Mahindra. Part of the Mahindra Group ...

and China's Youngman. It is reported that these bids are in the range $300 million to $400 million. On 13 June 2012 it was announced that the

National Electric Vehicle Sweden NEVS AB (an abbreviated form of "National Electric Vehicle Sweden") is a Swedish electric car manufacturer which acquired the assets of Saab Automobile from a bankruptcy estate in 2012. NEVS is the trademark of the company's products including ...

had bought Saab Automobile's bankruptcy estate.

Spyker joint ventures

In August 2012, Youngman agreed to acquire 29.9% of the Dutch luxury sportscar maker

Spyker N.V. Spyker N.V. (formerly known as Spyker Cars N.V. and Swedish Automobile N.V.) was a Dutch automobile company that produced high-end sports cars. It was the holding company of the Spyker Cars marque. In 2010, the company acquired Swedish car manuf ...

for €6.7 million, and the companies agreed to form two new joint ventures. The Spyker P2P joint venture will focus on the development of a new luxury sports utility vehicle, with ownership split 75:25 between Youngman and Spyker respectively. The Spyker Phoenix joint venture will focus on the development of a range of premium cars based on Saab's Phoenix platform, with ownership split 80:20 between Youngman and Spyker respectively.

Products

Passenger cars

Youngman sold passenger cars in China under the Youngman-Lotus marque. Products included the L3 and L5 models, and are engineered with the assistance of the United Kingdom-based

Lotus Engineering Lotus Cars Limited is a British automotive company headquartered in Norfolk, England which manufactures sports cars and racing cars noted for their light weight and fine handling characteristics. Lotus was previously involved in Formula One ra ...

. Products are listed as below: * Youngman Lotus L3 Hatch * Youngman Lotus L3 GT Hatch *

Youngman Lotus L3 Sedan The second-generation Proton Persona (CM) is a C-segment saloon produced by the Malaysian automobile manufacturer Proton. The CM series represents the second generation in the Proton Persona lineage, and the first Proton model to use the 'Per ...

* Youngman Lotus L5 Sportback * Youngman Lotus L5 Sedan *Youngman Lotus T5 File:Youngman Lotus L3 hatch China 2012-05-02.jpg, Youngman Lotus L3 Hatch File:Youngman-Lotus L3 GT hatch 3 China 2015-04-06.jpg, Youngman Lotus L3 GT Hatch File:Youngman-Lotus L3 sedan China 2015-04-18.jpg, Youngman Lotus L3 Sedan File:Youngman-Lotus L5 Sportback China 2015-04-06.jpg, Youngman Lotus L5 Sportback File:Youngman-Lotus L5 01 China 2018-03-20.jpg, Youngman Lotus L5 Sedan File:Youngman Lotus T5 (23).JPG, Youngman Lotus T5

Coaches and trucks

Youngman produced coaches and trucks in collaboration with the German

MAN Truck & Bus MAN Truck & Bus SE (formerly MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG, ) is a subsidiary of Traton, and one of the leading international providers of commercial vehicles. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, MAN Truck & Bus produces vans in the range from 3.0 to 5.5 t ...

. Coaches are sold under the Youngman and

marques. Trucks are sold under the Youngman and MAN marques. * JNP6120GR, JNP6120BEV1 and JNP6105GR - single deck buses based on

Neoplan Centroliner The Neoplan Centroliner is a series of low-floor transit buses which was first unveiled in 1997, and mainly built by Neoplan Bus GmbH for the European market. At the time when it was first released, it adopted contemporary technologies like Co ...

platform * JNP6120BEV1 - trolley buses based on

* JNP6250G - multi-articulate bus based on Neoplan Twinliner * JNP6180GM - single articulate bus based on Neoplan Twinliner * JNP6137S - double decker bus based on

Neoplan Skyliner The Neoplan Skyliner is a double-deck multi-axle luxury touring coach built by German coach manufacturer Neoplan. It was introduced in 1964. History In 1964, the founder's second son, Konrad Auwärter, developed a double-deck design for a ...

File:JNP6120G.jpg, A Youngman-Neoplan JNP6120G bus in Hangzhou File:Beijing Bus Rapid Transit.jpg, A Youngman-Neoplan JNP6180GM bus in Beijing File:Citybus1833 11.JPG, A Youngman-Neoplan JNP6120GR bus in Hong Kong File:J2B-0023 at Tianmu E Rd, Zhejiang N Rd (20151004100740).jpg, A Youngman-Neoplan JNP6120BEV1 trolleybus in Shanghai File:JNP6137.jpg, A Youngman-Neoplan JNP6137 Skyliner double decker bus near Domeyko, Chile

Explanatory notes

References

External links

Official website
{{Proton Companies based in Jinhua Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2001 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2019 Chinese brands Luxury motor vehicle manufacturers