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,

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 dies ...

, 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, 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 curr ...

, Guangzhou Automobile Group,

Great Wall The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic groups ...

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 The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...

(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 ...

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 t ...

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, FAW,

, 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 Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

. 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, 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 Buic ...

, Buick, Chevrolet, Iveco,

Škoda Škoda means ''pity'' in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to: Czech brands and enterprises * Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav ** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto respons ...

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...

, and Wuling. Dongfeng Motor Corporation (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

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 is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

, Nissan,

Infiniti is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling vehicles on November 8, 1989, in North America. The marketing network for Infiniti-branded vehicles included dealers in over 50 countries in ...

, Stellantis (through

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 automotive manufacturing company which produced automobiles ...

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

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 lar ...

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. 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 Jiaxing (), alternately romanized as Kashing, is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province, China. Lying on the Grand Canal of China, Jiaxing borders Hangzhou to the southwest, Huzhou to the west, Shanghai to the northeast, and the p ...

, Jie Fang,

Jilin Jilin (; alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea ( Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, Ryanggang and Chagang) and Russia (Prim ...

, 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 und ...

. 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. Th ...

, 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 m ...

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

and

Chang'an Automobile Group Chang'an Automobile Co., Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Jiangbei, Chongqing.Chongqing, 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,

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 ...

and

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 comp ...

, 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 21 ...

. 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 Beiji ...

, 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 Foton Motor Co., Ltd. ( ), known as Foton Motor or Foton, is a Chinese company that designs and manufactures trucks, buses and sport utility vehicles . It is headquartered in Changping, Beijing, and is a subsidiary of the BAIC Group. Histo ...

. 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 GAC or Gac may refer to: Companies and organisations * GAC Group, a Chinese automotive company based in Guangzhou, Guangdong * GAC Ireland, an Irish bus manufacturer established with Bombardier (1980–1986) * Games Administration Committee, ...

(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.

, 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 Swedish multinational manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Torslanda, Gothenburg. The company manufactures SUVs, station wagons, and sedans. The company ...

, its performance counterpart

Polestar Polestar is a Swedish automotive brand established in 1996 by Volvo Cars' partner Flash/Polestar Racing and acquired in 2015 by Volvo, which itself was acquired by Geely in 2010. It is headquartered in Torslanda outside Gothenburg, Sweden with ...

, and the British sports car company Lotus. In China, their passenger car brands include Geely Auto, Volvo Cars, and

Lynk & Co Lynk & Co () is a Chinese-Swedish automobile brand owned by Geely Automobile Holdings. Founded in Gothenburg, Sweden in 2016, the focus of the brand is on internet connectivity and innovative purchasing models, and targets a young professional dem ...

, the eighth biggest manufacturer in 2017 and the largest manufacturer of

SUVs 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 definitio ...

. Great Wall sells vehicles under the brands of Haval and WEY.

Brilliance 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 ...

, 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.

, 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 Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...

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

Guangqi Honda 10th Accord (CV) 260TURBO front

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, but also some Chevrolet and Cadillac 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 The Mercedes-Benz Group AG (previously named Daimler-Benz, DaimlerChrysler and Daimler) is a German multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is one of the world's leading car manufactu ...

. 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 Com ...

(backed by Warren Buffett), were already manufacturing an electric car for the Chinese market, the Denza, with an improved

Denza 500 The Denza 500 is a Chinese electric car produced by Denza, an joint venture between Daimler AG and partner BYD Auto. It is a "refresh" of the Denza 400 and Denza EV models previously released by the manufacturer. Description A March 2018 prev ...

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 SAIC Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd., formerly known as Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd. is an automobile manufacturing company headquartered in Anting, Shanghai, China and a joint venture between Volkswagen Group and SAIC Motor. It was ...

. 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 The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

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 l ...

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 Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 1859 – 6 June 1916) was a Chinese military and government official who rose to power during the late Qing dynasty and eventually ended the Qing dynasty rule of China in 1912, later becoming the Emperor of China. H ...

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 controlled ...

. 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 Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

, General Motors, and

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 ...

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

and 3.41 million were

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 Chang Hsüeh-liang (, June 3, 1901 – October 15, 2001), also romanized as Zhang Xueliang, nicknamed the "Young Marshal" (少帥), known in his later life as Peter H. L. Chang, was the effective ruler of Northeast China and much of northern ...

. Prior to production commencing, the factory was bombed by the invading Japanese and production never commenced. A fellow general, Yang Hucheng, 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 The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

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

1964 Shanghai SH760 -- Shanghai Automobile Museum -- 2012-05-26

BK640B at Beijing Vintage Car Museum (20221001134327)

Several vehicle assembly factories were set up in the 1950s and 1960s. They were

(today is Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corporation),

(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 manu ...

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

(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). The Second Automobile Works (later Dongfeng Motor Corporation) 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 The GAZ-51 (nickname ''Gazon'') was a Soviet truck manufactured by GAZ. Its first prototypes were produced before the end of World War II and has been influenced by Studebaker US6. The mass production started in 1946. A 2.5 ton 4×2 standard var ...

, 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, Hongqi CA72, Feng Huang (later known as the Shanghai SH760) all from 1958.

1980 to 1990

Volkswagen_Jetta_facelift_China_2013-03-04

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 The is a small car manufactured by the Japanese automaker Toyota from 1961 until 1978. Conceived as a family car to fulfill the requirements of the Japanese Government's "national car concept", it was the smallest Toyota car during that period an ...

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 unit A work unit or ''danwei'' () is the name given to a place of employment in the People's Republic of China. The term ''danwei'' remains in use today, as people still use it to refer to their workplace. However, it is more appropriate to use ''danwei ...

sprivate 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 The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. 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 served ...

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 (AMC, later acquired by Chrysler Corporation) signed a 20-year contract to produce their Jeep-model vehicles in Beijing. The following year, Germany's

signed a 25-year contract to make passenger cars in

, 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 the ...

agreed to another passenger car project to make vehicles in the prosperous southern city of

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

. 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

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. 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 and controlled through holdings in Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Geely Auto is ZGH's mainstream brand primarily s ...

and

Great Wall Motors Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd. (GWM) is a Chinese privately owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Baoding, Hebei. Founded in 1984, it is currently the eighth largest automobile manufacturer in China, with 1.281 million sales in 2021. The co ...

. 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, wireless ...

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 The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Franci ...

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 is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked among the 10 largest Japanese ...

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 GM Korea Company ( ko, 한국지엠주식회사) is the South Korean subsidiary of multinational corporation General Motors. GMK is also the third largest automobile manufacturer in South Korea. GM Korea's roots go back to the former Daewoo Mot ...

brought a case against Chery in a Shanghai court, but by 2005,

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

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 The China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA; ), also known as the Chinese Patent Office, is the patent office of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was founded in 1980 as the Patent Office of the People's Republic of Ch ...

, 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 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 Ita ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

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 Motor Holding (JMH), a joint venture between Jiangxi Guokong Automotive Investment Corporation (50%), Jiangling Motors Corporation Group (25%) and Changan Automobile (25% ...

, 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 201 ...

, 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 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

court. The car manufacturer blamed Jiangling for

copyright infringement Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

and

unfair competition Unfair may refer to: * Double Taz and Double LeBron James in multiverses ''fair''; unfairness or injustice Injustice is a quality relating to unfairness or undeserved outcomes. The term may be applied in reference to a particular event or situ ...

. It was a rare move; most non-Chinese car manufacturers choose not to go to court over design copying by Chinese companies because of the small likelihood of winning such lawsuit. In the same month, an unnamed source said to ''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

'' that Jiangling had agreed with Jaguar Land Rover it would not export the X7 to Brazil. According to that same source, both companies had also discussed what would be acceptable in a design update for the X7.

Lifan

Lifan's

320 __NOTOC__ Year 320 ( CCCXX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantinus and Constantinus (or, less frequently, year 10 ...

model looks very similar in appearance to the current

Mini The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

Shuanghuan

The Shuanghuan Noble has caused numerous controversies, with

even filing a lawsuit against

Shuanghuan Shuanghuan Auto (officially Shijiazhuang Shuanghuan Automobile Co., Ltd.) (双环汽车) was a Chinese automobile manufacturer headquartered in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, founded by Zhao Zhigang. It was established in April 1988 and acquired t ...

because of its similarities with the Smart Fortwo.

also persuaded the

court to prohibit the car from being exhibited at the

Bologna Motor Show The Bologna Motor Show (known as the "''Salone internazionale dell'auto e della moto di Bologna''" in Italian) was an auto show which was scheduled to be held annually in December, in Bologna, Italy. The editions of 2009 and 2012 were the shor ...

, but the Shuanghuan Noble car was put on display anyway. In May 2009, a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

judge ruled against Daimler and cleared the car allowing sales to begin in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. The judge answering to Daimler's demand to ban the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

vehicle from entering the

market said that "The impression the Noble makes on a third and informed party by its visual appearance is different to the one that is made to the same person by the

Smart Smart or SMART may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Smart'' (Hey! Say! JUMP album), 2014 * Smart (Hotels.com), former mascot of Hotels.com * ''Smart'' (Sleeper album), 1995 debut album by Sleeper * '' SMart'', a children's television se ...

... It is commonly accepted that the decision over buying a new car cannot be based only on the exterior characteristics but many other technical specifications such as the power of the engine, fuel consumption, trim specification, retail price and dealers’ network." The ruling states that the latter party's doings "cannot possibly misguide the public" as the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

company claimed in its legal request. The judge noted the salient fact that "the plaintiff is no longer selling the specific generation of the

which claims to have been copied, but a different vehicle, with much different characteristics."

Today

The Today Sunshine M1 electric microcar shares multiple design features with the second-generation

Mini Countryman The Mini Countryman, also called Mini Crossover in Japan, is a subcompact luxury crossover SUV, the first vehicle of this type to be launched by BMW under the Mini marque. It was launched in 2010 and received a facelift in 2014. The second gen ...

, monst notably in the front end.

Zotye

German automaker Porsche threatened Zotye with legal action after it revealed the Zotye SR9 in 2016, which is said to resemble the

Porsche Macan The Porsche Macan (Type 95B) is a high-performance Compact luxury crossover SUV produced by the German car manufacturer Porsche from 2014. It is built in Leipzig, Germany. The Macan range includes many variants, including the Macan, Macan T, ...

. The car has been described as a "complete knockoff", with many aspects of the exterior and interior resembling the Macan.China's Zotye rolling out Porsche Macan knockoff , CarAdvice
/ref> The Zotye SR9 gained notoriety on Chinese social media after a woman dumped her boyfriend for claiming that his SR9 was in fact a Porsche. The two vehicles are priced at 170,000 RMB and 588,000 RMB, respectively. Other Zotye models have been said to resemble

and

Daihatsu , commonly known as Daihatsu, is a Japanese automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest surviving Japanese internal combustion engine manufacturers. The company's headquarters are located in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture. Historically, Daihatsu was ...

models.

Ora

Ora's Lightning Cat model looks very similar in appearance to the current Porsche 911 and it's body style looks like

Porsche Panamera The Porsche Panamera is a mid/full-sized luxury car (E-segment/F-segment in Europe) manufactured and marketed by German automobile manufacturer Porsche across two generations using a front-engine, rear or all-wheel drive configuration. Pors ...

Cherry

Chery Arrizo 3's headlights looks similar in appearance to the

Toyota Corolla (E170) The E170/E180 series Toyota Corolla is the eleventh-generation of the Corolla that has been sold internationally since 2013. Two basic front and rear styling treatments are fitted to the E170—a North American version that debuted first—and ...

US version's. the taillight of the Chery Omoda 5 is a total copycat of the first generation of

Lexus NX The is a compact luxury crossover SUV sold by Lexus, a luxury division of Toyota. Introduced in late 2014, it is positioned between the subcompact UX and the mid-size RX. The NX was proven to be well-received, as it was a sales success. It w ...

's.

JAC

the taillight of the JAC Refine S5 is very similar to the tail light of

Audi Q5 The Audi Q5 is a series of compact luxury crossover SUVs produced by the German luxury car manufacturer Audi from 2008. The original first-generation (''Typ 8R'') model was the third member of the ''B8'' family to be released after the Audi A ...

2013.

Threats to disclose industry secrets

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' reported that the government of China will be forcing foreign carmakers to disclose their electric vehicle technology secrets before the vehicles are allowed to be sold in China. The current Chinese automotive policy states that a foreign carmaker must form a joint-venture with a Chinese carmaker if the former plans to sell its electric vehicles there, with the Chinese carmaker owning 51% of the joint venture. Due to this supposed threat by the Chinese government,

postponed the launch of the current-generation

Prius The is a car built by Toyota which has a hybrid drivetrain, combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. Initially offered as a four-door sedan, it has been produced only as a five-door liftback since 2003. In 2007, th ...

until they learn more about the plan. According to ''The New York Times'', GM was asked to disclose key technological information on the

Volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defin ...

. Failure to do so would result in not qualifying for substantial (up to $19000) subsidies. In 2011, China was believed to be behind the theft of information from Renault. In 2013 a US couple was sentenced to jail time for revealing GM trade secrets to Chery. In 2014 it was noted there are "stringent" and "extreme" requirements for intellectual property transfer in order to sell to the Chinese market. Imported electric vehicles are subject to high taxes and no subsidies. In 2017, the US government signaled willingness to investigate such forced

technology transfer Technology transfer (TT), also called transfer of technology (TOT), is the process of transferring (disseminating) technology from the person or organization that owns or holds it to another person or organization, in an attempt to transform invent ...

Alternative fuel vehicles

Baojun E300 test car in Sangtian Island (front)

China encourages the development of clean and

fuel efficient Fuel efficiency is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device, wh ...

vehicles in an effort to sustain continued growth of the country's automobile industry (see Fuel economy in automobiles). By the end of 2007, China plans to reduce the average fuel consumption per 100 km for all types of vehicles by 10%. The proportion of vehicles burning alternate fuel will be increased to help optimize the country's energy consumption. Priority will be given to facilitating the research and development of electric and hybrid vehicles as well as alternate fuel vehicles, especially

CNG Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in cy ...

LNG Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled down to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volu ...

. Major cities like

and

already require Euro-3 emission standards. On March 10, 2008, Beijing became the first city to require light-duty vehicles to meet China-4 emission standard, which was equivalent to Euro-4. Beijing shifted its emission standards to the fifth-stage standards for light-duty and heavy-duty vehicles in January 2013 and August 2015, respectively. On 12 April 2016, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) released the proposal for light-duty China-6 standard.

Electric vehicles (EV) and Fuel cell vehicles (FCV)

Due to serious air pollution problems and ever-increasing traffic, alternative-energy vehicle production is an area of strong focus for the Chinese government, and several NEV-friendly policies have appeared at the national and local level as a result. In many cities, free licenses — otherwise a significant expenditure for traditional vehicles — are provided for electric vehicle owners, along with exemptions for registry lotteries. These kinds of policies have created strong interest in new energy vehicles within China. The Chinese Automotive Industry Plan, announced on the main Web site of China's central government, said China aims to create capacity to produce 500,000

new energy vehicles A plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) is any motor vehicle, road vehicle that can utilize an external source of electricity (such as a wall socket that connects to the power grid) to store electrical power within its electric vehicle battery, onboard ...

, such as

battery electric car An electric car, battery electric car, or all-electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using only energy stored in batteries. Compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quiet ...

s and

plug-in hybrid vehicle A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) is a hybrid electric vehicle whose battery pack can be recharged by plugging a charging cable into an external electric power source, in addition to internally by its on-board internal combustion engin ...

s. The plan aims to increase sales of such new-energy cars to account for about 5% of China's passenger vehicle sales. At the 2010 Beijing Motor Show, more than 20 electric vehicles were on display, most of which came from native automakers. As of May 2010, at least 10 all-electric models have been reported to be on track for volume-production. The first mass-produced plug-in hybrid car (

BYD F3DM The BYD F3DM (Dual-mode) was a plug-in hybrid compact sedan manufactured by BYD with an all-electric range of and a hybrid electric powertrain that can extend the range an additional . The F3DM is the world's first mass-produced plug-in hybri ...

), all-electric minivan (

BYD e6 The BYD e6 is an all-electric compact crossover/compact MPV manufactured by BYD from 2009. Field testing for the first generation model began in China in May 2010 with 40 units operating as taxis in the city of Shenzhen. Sales to the general pub ...

) and all-electric long-range bus ( BYD K9) are Chinese. New energy vehicle sales between January 2011 and March 2016, totaled 502,572 units, of which, over 92% were sold between January 2014 and March 2016. These figures include heavy-duty commercial vehicles such buses and sanitation trucks. These figures only include vehicles manufactured in the country as imports are not subject to government subsidies. , the Chinese stock of plug-in electric vehicles consist of 366,219 all-electric vehicles (72.9%) and 136,353 plug-in hybrids (27.1%). , China is the world's largest electric bus market, and by 2020, the country was expected to account for more than 50% of the global electric bus market. China also is the world's leader in the plug-in heavy-duty segment, including electric buses, plug-in trucks, particularly sanitation/garbage trucks. ''Cumulative global sales totaled over 1 million highway legal plug-in electric passenger cars and light-duty vehicles by mid-September 2015.'' ''Download EVS in China (full report). See Table 2: Chinas's EV Sales by Brand, 2011-2013, pp.19.'' A September 2018 update by

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

included a prediction that the market share of China's electric vehicles will grow by 40% in the short term and that China expected total annual sales of electric and gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles to be 2 million by 2020. The government was encouraging the purchase of such cars with a short wait time for a new license plate and with government-backed discounts of up to 40% on electric vehicles. In 2018, new-energy vehicles accounted for about 3% of China's new car sales; that was expected to increase to over 30% by 2030 according to an estimate by the Japanese Mizuho Bank.Chinese electric-car makers charge ahead, powered by state - Nikkei Asian Review
/ref> The country has a significant benefit over others. Some two-thirds of the world's lithium-ion batteries are made in China and the country's EV manufacturing facilities are close to the source these components. In October 2018, Tesla purchased land for the construction of an EV manufacturing plant in Shanghai's Lingang area. By then, VW had already begun construction of its EV factory, with a planned annual capacity of 300,000 SAIC-VW MEB-platform vehicles, starting with three battery-electric vehicles and two plug-in hybrids. Toyota Motor had already launched sales of an EV branded under Guangzhou Automobile Group; the two companies have a joint venture in China.

Sales

In China, authorized car dealership are called 4S car shops. The 4S represents Sales (整車销售 ), Spare parts (零配件), Service (售後服务) and Survey (信息反馈). In most cases, brand-name new cars can only be purchased from 4S shops. For new cars in high demand, a high premium is added for instant delivery or just placing an order. The profit of car dealers in China is quite high compared to the rest of the world, in most cases 10%. This is supposedly due to the 'non-transparent invoice price' as announced by manufactures and to the premiums they charge for quick delivery. Due to the lack of knowledge for most customers, dealers can sell add-ons at much higher prices than the aftermarket. There is no regulation by either the government or associations but some retailers are members of the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA).

Exports

, exports of Chinese automobiles were about 1 million vehicles per year and rapidly increasing. Most sales were made to

emerging economies An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or were ...

such as Afghanistan, Algeria, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Mexico, North Korea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, or Turkey where a Chinese-made automobile such as a Geely, Great Wall, or Chery sells for about half of what a comparable model manufactured by a multinational brand such as Toyota does. Cars made in China by multinational joint ventures are generally not exported. The quality of Chinese cars is increasing rapidly but, according to J. D. Power and Associates in 2012, it was not expected to reach parity with multinational manufacturers until about 2018. Most of cars manufactured in China are sold within the country; in 2011, exports totalled 814,300 units. 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. In 2017, the country exported roughly 891,000 vehicles. In that year, the value of exports was nearly $70 billion in auto parts and $14 billion in cars, while total imports (parts and vehicles) totalled about $90 billion.China's Carmakers Have a Strong Home Front in the Trump Trade War - Bloomberg
/ref>

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