There are currently about 150 active brands in the Chinese automobile market. Among them are 97 Chinese domestic brands and 43 joint venture (JV) brands. [1] Before 2010, the traditional "Big Four" refers to the four major state-owned car manufacturers, SAIC, FAW, Dongfeng and Changan. Other Chinese car manufacturers, both from public and private sectors, like Geely, BAIC, BYD, Chery, GAC, Great Wall, JAC and Seres, emerged as the major players with the expansion of the Chinese automotive industry.
The article is an introduction to major automobile manufacturers and brands of China; for the full list see List of automobile manufacturers of China .
Central state-owned manufacturer refers to manufacturers directly owned by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC) of the People's Republic of China. Currently, FAW, Dongfeng and Changan are owned and controlled by the Central Government. [2] According to the civil service ranks of China, The central government controlled state-owned enterprises are ranked as Sub-Ministerial-Level Enterprise.
Local state-owned manufacturers refers to manufacturers owned by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of local governments (instead of the State Council). Most local government-controlled manufacturers are ranked as Bureau-Director Level Enterprise or even lower level.
Year | Central state-owned | Local state-owned | State-private mixed owned | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FAW | Dongfeng | Changan | SAIC | GAC | BAIC | JAC | Chery | Seres | Hozon | |
2010 | 1,038,290 | 607,068 | 1,239,990 | 1,424,513 | 45,065 | 682,895 | 442,547 | 750,456 | 226,198 | – |
2011 | 907,337 | 654,991 | 1,025,233 | 1,433,387 | 44,056 | 664,812 | 466,459 | 729,497 | 243,053 | |
2012 | 718,327 | 611,446 | 1,053,645 | 1,659,973 | 71,505 | 683,991 | 448,813 | 653,476 | 202,991 | |
2013 | 723,969 | 709,470 | 1,152,537 | 1,884,112 | 124,001 | 866,994 | 495,737 | 561,062 | 205,019 | |
2014 | 627,006 | 715,344 | 1,363,487 | 2,051,240 | 146,694 | 864,783 | 446,802 | 570,718 | 277,000 | |
2015 | 505,849 | 690,531 | 1,504,936 | 2,272,961 | 207,890 | 827,170 | 588,052 | 575,108 | 275,316 | |
2016 | 505,711 | 779,298 | 1,682,741 | 2,533,586 | 375,723 | 988,109 | 643,342 | 682,474 | 381,636 | |
2017 | 572,862 | 810,407 | 1,597,543 | 2,811,224 | 508,797 | 837,129 | 510,892 | 604,708 | 400,038 | |
2018 | 543,986 | 664,313 | 1,270,100 | 2,957,136 | 535,323 | 701,754 | 462,477 | 752,759 | 347,837 | 1,206 |
2019 | 589,832 | 661,585 | 1,331,802 | 2,621,117 | 384,792 | 743,614 | 421,241 | 747,806 | 325,381 | 11,212 |
2020 | 779,403 | 725,475 | 1,503,604 | 2,575,775 | 353,597 | 790,241 | 456,125 | 731,117 | 273,590 | 15,509 |
2021 | 846,803 | 819,172 | 1,754,707 | 2,845,309 | 447,207 | 760,476 | 524,224 | 961,926 | 266,614 | 69,674 |
2022 | 555,406 | 743,032 | 1,874,569 | 2,779,123 | 633,704 | 570,681 | 500,401 | 1,232,727 | 267,246 | 152,073 |
2023 | 732,328 | 671,702 | 2,097,794 | 2,804,845 | 886,508 | 821,033 | 592,499 | 1,881,316 | 253,181 | 127,496 |
2024 | 813,632 | 765,242 | 2,226,489 | 2,429,925 | 789,475 | 872,362 | 403,094 | 2,603,916 | 497,008 | 87,684 |
Year | Privately owned | HIMA [21] | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Geely | BYD | GWM | Li Auto | Leapmotor | Nio | Xpeng | Xiaomi | ||
2010 | 425,194 | 521,761 | 415,779 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
2011 | 857,006 | 454,676 | 518,965 | ||||||
2012 | 905,083 | 462,512 | 672,234 | ||||||
2013 | 979,691 | 514,188 | 803,449 | ||||||
2014 | 878,818 | 446,329 | 767,825 | ||||||
2015 | 1,025,287 | 451,868 | 871,315 | ||||||
2016 | 1,333,077 | 510,157 | 1,086,639 | ||||||
2017 | 1,938,057 | 421,158 | 1,085,654 | ||||||
2018 | 2,276,846 | 528,298 | 1,072,529 | 11,348 | 482 | ||||
2019 | 2,194,145 | 467,960 | 1,097,451 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 20,565 | 16,608 | ||
2020 | 2,150,134 | 431,447 | 1,111,598 | 33,457 | 10,266 | 43,728 | 27,041 | ||
2021 | 2,189,409 | 749,325 | 1,280,993 | 90,491 | 43,121 | 91,429 | 98,155 | ||
2022 | 2,312,613 | 1,881,669 | 1,067,523 | 133,246 | 111,168 | 122,486 | 120,757 | 76,180 | |
2023 | 2,790,000 | 3,024,417 | 1,230,704 | 376,030 | 144,155 | 160,038 | 141,601 | 95,279 | |
2024 | 3,336,534 | 4,272,145 | 1,233,292 | 500,508 | 251,207 | 221,970 | 190,068 | 135,000 | 444,956 |
Following the Chinese economic reform, from 1994 to 2018, Chinese automotive policy mandated that foreign carmakers had to establish joint ventures (JVs) with a Chinese counterpart to produce vehicles in the country, with the Chinese partner owning at least 50% of the venture. This measure was implemented to protect local manufacturers and provide it with the chance to bridge the technology gap and develop their brands. [22]
On April 17, 2018, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China announced that foreign ownership limits on automakers would be phased out over a five-year period. [23] [24] On 28 July 2018, China lifted foreign ownership restrictions on new energy vehicle production, which benefited American electric car manufacturer Tesla, Inc. The company established a plant in Shanghai, becoming the first foreign automaker to open a wholly owned manufacturing facility in China. [25] [26] The liberalization was followed by commercial vehicles in 2020 and passenger cars in 2022. The rule prohibiting foreign automakers from setting up more than two joint ventures in China was also lifted in 2022. Therefore, it became legally possible for foreign automakers to buy out local partners from joint ventures. In 2022, BMW and Volkswagen had acquired 75% stake in their joint ventures. [27] [28]
The following are foreign manufacturers that operate in China either through wholly owned manufacturing plants or joint ventures where they own more than 50 percent of the shares.
The following are foreign manufacturers that operate in China through joint ventures where they hold a maximum of 50 percent ownership.
In the 1990s, Chinese automakers pursued Western technology through joint ventures. However, a reversal occurred in the 2020s, with Western manufacturers now seeking technological assistance from Chinese counterparts and invested in China through joint ventures. [37] Several Chinese electric vehicle startups have leveraged their technological advantages, attracting investments from traditional Western automotive giants such as Renault-Nissan, VW, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Stellantis.
Year | Foreign manufacturer | Chinese manufacturer | Reversed joint venture / collaboration |
---|---|---|---|
2017 | Renault/Nissan | Dongfeng | |
eGT New Energy Automotive (25:25:50) | |||
2019 | Renault | JMCG | |
JMEV (50:37) | |||
2019 | Mercedes-Benz | Geely |
|
Smart Automobile (50:50) | |||
2020 | BMW | Great Wall Motor |
|
Spotlight Automotive (50:50) | |||
2020 | Toyota | BYD |
|
BYD Toyota EV Technology (50:50) | |||
2023 | Volkswagen | XPeng |
|
2023 | Audi | SAIC |
|
2023 | Stellantis | Leapmotor |
|
Leapmotor International (51:49) | |||
2023 | Renault | Geely |
|
Horse (50:50) | |||
2023 | Ford | Changan |
|
Changan Ford NEV (30:70) | |||
2023 | KG Mobility | BYD |
|
2024 | Jaguar Land Rover | Chery |
|
2024 | KG Mobility | Chery |
|
2025 | Nissan | Dongfeng |
|
JV for export (60:40) |
Since the 2020s, Chinese technology corporations such as Huawei, Baidu, and DJI, with their advanced software or hardware technological capabilities, started entering the automotive business through various approaches.
Huawei's partnership with automobile manufacturers has taken the form of three business models, from the standardized parts supply model, the "Huawei Inside" (HI) model, and the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA). [55] [56] Baidu and DJI have provided autonomous driving system and hardware to automotive manufacturers. [57] [58] Qihoo 360 invested in the Chinese EV startup company Hozon Auto. [59] Geely collaborates with Baidu to set up joint venture brands, and acquired Chinese smartphone company Meizu for its Polestar and Lynk & Co brands with its auto OS and AR system. Xiaomi is the first and the only Chinese tech company that is directly involved in automotive design, development and manufacturing, and operates its factory in Beijing. [60]
Tech company | Manufacturer | Collaborating brand | Note |
---|---|---|---|
Huawei (HIMA) | Seres Group | AITO | Collaborates under the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA) model. Huawei provides a complete set of vehicle solutions and participates in product definition, design, marketing, user experience, quality control and delivery, while the manufacturers are responsible for vehicle manufacturing. [55] |
Chery | Luxeed | ||
JAC Group | Maextro | ||
BAIC BluePark | Stelato | ||
SAIC Motor | SAIC | ||
Huawei | Changan | Avatr | Collaborates under the Huawei Inside (HI) model. Huawei provides a full-stack smart car solution and Huawei's smart cockpit to car manufacturers. Huawei supplies both software and hardware, but does not participate in the design, development, or marketing of the vehicles. [55] |
Dongfeng | M-Hero | ||
Voyah | |||
BAIC BluePark | Arcfox | ||
Changan | Deepal | ||
GAC | Trumpchi | ||
SAIC-VW | Audi | ||
FAW-VW | |||
Audi-FAW NEV | |||
Dongfeng | Dongfeng eπ | ||
Dongfeng Nissan | |||
Xiaomi | Xiaomi Auto | Directly invests and is involved in automotive design, development and manufacturing. [60] | |
Baidu | Dongfeng | Voyah | Baidu equips Dongfeng's electric vehicle brand, Voyah, with its Apollo autonomous driving system. [57] |
Geely | Jidu Auto / Ji Yue | Baidu and Geely have established two joint venture companies, Jidu Auto for automotive technology, and Ji Yue for car manufacturing. [61] [59] | |
DJI | SAIC-GM-Wuling | Baojun | DJI provides its autonomous driving system for several brands, including Baojun, Volkswagen, [62] and iCar. [63] |
Volkswagen | |||
Chery | iCar | ||
Qihoo 360 | Hozon | Neta | Collaborates in a form of investment. [59] |
Meizu | Geely | Lynk & Co, Polestar | Meizu provides an auto OS called Flyme Auto OS, and an AR system. [64] |
Year | Chinese brand passenger vehicle sales [65] | Domestic share of Chinese brand passenger vehicles [65] | Global passenger vehicle sales [66] | Global share of Chinese brand passenger vehicles |
---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | 6,273,000 | 45.6% | 58,239,494 | 10.77% |
2011 | 6,112,200 | 42.2% | 59,897,273 | 10.20% |
2012 | 6,485,000 | 41.9% | 63,081,024 | 10.28% |
2013 | 7,222,000 | 40.3% | 65,745,403 | 10.98% |
2014 | 7,518,000 | 38.1% | 67,782,035 | 11.09% |
2015 | 8,737,600 | 41.3% | 68,539,516 | 12.75% |
2016 | 10,529,000 | 43.2% | 72,105,435 | 14.60% |
2017 | 10,847,000 | 43.9% | 73,456,531 | 14.77% |
2018 | 9,890,000 | 42.1% | 70,498,388 | 14.03% |
2019 | 8,470,000 | 39.2% | 64,033,463 | 13.23% |
2020 | 7,749,000 | 38.4% | 53,915,928 | 14.37% |
2021 | 9,543,000 | 44.4% | 56,437,803 | 16.91% |
2022 | 11,766,000 | 49.9% | 57,485,378 | 20.47% |
2023 | 14,596,000 | 56% | 65,272,367 | 22.36% |
2024 | 17,970,000 | 65.2% | 67,542,081 | 26.61% |
Year | Production | Global share | Milestones |
---|---|---|---|
1955 | 61 | Foundation of the First Automobile Works (FAW) | |
1960 | 22,574 | ||
1970 | 87,166 | ||
1978 | 149,062 | Beginning of the reform and opening-up | |
1985 | 443,377 | ||
1990 | 509,242 | ||
1995 | 1,452,697 | ||
2002 | 3,250,000 | 5.6% | Accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) |
2005 | 5,710,000 | 8.6% | |
2009 | 13,790,000 | 25.0% | Surpassed the United States as the world's largest automobile producer |
2010 | 18,260,000 | 24.2% | Largest number of cars produced by any nation |
2015 | 24,500,000 | 27.43% | Became the world's largest EV producer |
2017 | 29,020,000 | 30.19% | |
2022 | 27,021,000 | 31.8% | Surpassed Germany as the world's second largest car exporter |
2023 | 30,161,000 | 32.4% | Surpassed Japan as the world's largest car exporter |
2024 | 31,436,000 | 33.0% | Highest production record in history |
Region | Production share | Provincial | Production volume in 2023 | Capacity utilization | Chinese brands | Foreign brands |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yangtze Delta | 28.1% | Anhui | 2,250,743 | 67.0% | Chery, BYD, Changan, Sehol, JAC, Jetour | Land Rover, Jaguar |
Jiangsu | 1,837,252 | 39.3% | Li Auto, BYD, Ora, Roewe, MG, Maxus, Deepal, HiPhi | Volkwagen, Kia, Mazda | ||
Shanghai | 1,810,679 | 69.6% | IM Motors, Roewe, Rising, BYD | Cadillac, Audi, Tesla, Buick, Mercedes-Benz | ||
Zhejiang | 1,368,005 | 29.7% | Geely, Zeekr, Geely Galaxy, Lynk & Co, Polestar, Aion, Neta, Leapmotor, BYD | Volkswagen, Volvo, Ford | ||
Central | 14.8% | Hubei | 1,585,294 | 41.4% | Voyah, M-Hero, Aeolus, Trumpchi, Tank | Honda, Nissan, Infiniti, Buick, Chevrolet, Dacia |
Hunan | 1,009,720 | 42.1% | BYD, Denza, Geely, Beijing | Volkswagen | ||
Henan | 811,836 | 37.4% | MG, Jetour, Roewe, BYD, Fangchengbao | Venucia | ||
Jiangxi | 431,244 | 26.3% | BYD, Trumpchi, JMC | Ford | ||
Chuan-Yu | 9.6% | Chongqing | 1,698,586 | 34.9% | Changan, Avatr, Deepal, Oshan, Tank, Jinbei, AITO, Seres, Landian, Livan, Wuling, Baojun | Ford, Lincoln |
Sichuan | 782,924 | 43.3% | Zeekr, Lynk & Co, Kaiyi | Volvo, Toyota, Volkswagen, Jetta | ||
Pearl River Delta | 13.2% | Guangdong | 3,418,749 | 65.5% | Trumpchi, Aion, BYD, Xpeng, Beijing | Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Audi, Volkswagen |
Jing-Jin-Ji | 9.8% | Tianjin | 1,075,244 | 71.1% | Haval | Volkswagen, Audi, Toyota |
Beijing | 912,003 | 45.6% | Changan, Beijing, Xiaomi, Li Auto | Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai | ||
Hebei | 542,214 | 35.0% | Haval, Wey, Lynk & Co | Hyundai | ||
Northeast | 10.5% | Jilin | 1,450,020 | 65.0% | Hongqi, Bestune | Volkswagen, Audi, Toyota |
Liaoning | 1,197,285 | 64.9% | Chery | BMW, Nissan, Infiniti, Buick | ||
Heilongjiang | 83,876 | 52.4% | Volvo, Ford | |||
Other | 14.0% | Shaanxi | 1,255,307 | 85.1 | BYD, Yangwang, Denza, Smart | |
Guangxi | 882,892 | 36.8% | Guangxi Auto, Forthing | Chevrolet | ||
Shandong | 849,469 | 36.5% | BYD, Wuling | Volkswagen, Audi, Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet | ||
Fujian | 287,021 | 44.5% | MG | Mercedes-Benz | ||
Shanxi | 164,188 | 54.7% | Geely Geometry | |||
Inner Mongolia | 89,775 | 89.8% | Chery | |||
Guizhou | 51,529 | 16.6% | Geely | |||
Xinjiang | 40,789 | 40.8% | Trumpchi | Volkswagen | ||
Hainan | 12,871 | 2.9% | Haima | |||
Yunnan | 3,387 | 3.4% | JMEV |
Trade name in English | Common name in Chinese | Literal meaning in Chinese | Note |
---|---|---|---|
Central State-owned manufacturers | |||
FAW | 一汽 | abbreviation for First Automotive Works | First automotive manufacturer of the People's Republic of China |
Dongfeng | 东风 | 'the East Wind' | Taken from Mao Zedong's famous saying "East wind prevails over the west wind", which means that the power of socialism will surely defeat the power of capitalism. [71] |
Changan | 长安 | 'Long-lasting peace' | Originated from "Chongqing Changan Arsenal", the predecessor entity in defense industry in 1950s. Changan is also the ancient name for the capital of Tang Dynasty. [72] |
Local State-owned manufacturers | |||
SAIC | 上汽 | abbreviation for Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation | Location of the manufacturer |
GAC | 广汽 | abbreviation for Guangzhou Automobile Group | Location of the manufacturer |
BAIC | 北汽 | abbreviation for Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation | Location of the manufacturer |
JAC | 江淮 | abbreviation for Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Corp | Location of the manufacturer. Jianghuai refers to the northern Jiangsu and northern and central Anhui, where JAC located. |
Chery | 奇瑞 | 'unexpected and auspicious' | Named by Yin Tongyue, the company's first technical director |
State-private mixed ownership manufacturer | |||
Seres | 赛力斯 | 'China' | Derived from the Ancient Greek word Σῆρες, which means 'China' |
Privately owned manufacturers | |||
Geely | 吉利 | 'auspicious, propitious' | Phonetic transliteration of the company's native name 吉利 |
BYD | 比亚迪 | abbreviation for Build Your Dream | Originated from Yadi Electronics, the company's initial name, the character bi (比) was added to the name to prevent duplication, and to provide the company with an alphabetical advantage in trade shows. The backronymic slogan "Build Your Dreams" was adopted starting in 2008. [73] |
GMW | 长城 | 'the Great Wall' | Name by Wei Jianjun, the company's founder |
Li Auto | 理想 | 'ideal' | Homophone of its founder, Li Xiang. |
XPeng | 小鹏 | 'Little Peng ' (a gigantic bird in Chinese myth) | Derived from the given name of the founder He Xiaopeng |
Nio | 蔚来 | 'Future' (homophone) | "N" stands for new era, "I" for innovation, and "O" for openness [74] |
Leapmotor | 零跑 | 'Leading the race' (homophone) | 零 in Chinese means 'zero', which represents the vision of zero emissions, zero accidents, and zero traffic jams. [75] |
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