Changan Automobile

Chang'an Automobile (Group) Co., Ltd.[1] is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Chongqing, China.[2] Its principal activity is the production of passenger cars, microvans, commercial vans and light trucks.[3]

For other uses, see Chang'an (disambiguation).
Chang'an Automobile (Group) Co., Ltd.
TypeState-owned
IndustryAutomotive
Founded1862 (1862)
Headquarters
Chongqing
,
China
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsMotor vehicles
OwnerChina South Industries Group
SubsidiariesChangan UK R&D Centre Ltd.
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese重庆长安汽车股份有限公司
Traditional Chinese重慶長安汽車股份有限公司
Websitechangan.com.cn

Chang'an designs, develops, manufactures, and sells passenger cars sold under the Chang'an brand and commercial vehicles sold under the Chana brand. It operates joint ventures with Ford (Changan Ford), and Mazda (Changan Mazda) which respectively produce Ford and Mazda branded passenger cars for the Chinese market. It also has a joint venture with Jiangling Motor Corporation Group (JMCG) and Aiways, which produces SUVs sold under the Landwind marque.

Chang'an is considered to be one of the "Big Four" Chinese automakers (along with SAIC Motor, FAW Group, and Dongfeng Motor Corporation),[4] and manufacture of 3 million units in 2016 saw the company rank fourth among China's automakers by production volume.[5] It is China's second most popular car brand, with 1.4 million Changan cars sold in 2016.[6] A subsidiary of Changan, Chongqing Changan Automobile Company (SZSE: 000625), is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (but is also state controlled).[2]

History

Changan's early origins can be traced back to 1862 when Li Hongzhang set up a military supply factory, the Shanghai Foreign Gun Bureau.[7] In 1937, during the Sino-Japanese War, the factory was moved to Chongqing when Shanghai was attacked.[8]

In 1959 a predecessor entity, Chongqing Chang'an Arsenal, under contract to the government, began auto manufacturing and built Changjiang Type 46 vehicle which was the first production vehicle of China.[9] Changan introduced minicar by licensing from Suzuki.[10]

In 2009, Changan acquired two smaller domestic automakers, Hafei and Changhe.[11] In 2013, Changhe was transferred to Jiangxi provincial government for restructuring, and later became a majority-owned subsidiary of another Chinese automaker BAIC Group.[12]

As of 2010, China Weaponry Equipment is the parent company of this state-owned automaker,[13] and that year Chang'an became the fourth most-productive car manufacturer in the Chinese automobile industry by selling 2.38 million units.[14]

The company also released a new logo for its consumer offerings in 2010 while commercial production retains the former red-arch brand.[3]

Although it only allowed the company to achieve fourth place among domestic automakers in terms of production, Changan made over 2 million whole vehicles in 2011.[15]

In 2012, it was reported that 72% of production was dedicated to passenger vehicles,[5] but this count likely conflates private offerings and microvans, tiny commercial trucks and vans that are popular in China.

In November 2012, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile was divided into two new joint venture companies: Changan Ford and Changan Mazda.[16]

In 2017, Changan announced that it will only manufacture and sale fully-electric vehicles by 2025, ending the production and sales of fuel-combustion vehicles (gasoline and diesel vehicles) and hybrid vehicles (including plug-in hybrids) by then. The company stated that this is because Government of China announced that it has passed legislation that will ban and phase-out fuel-combustion vehicles (including hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles) from China by 2030, due to high air pollution and due to China's plans to join and sign up for the Paris Agreement.[17]

Products

Changan designs, develops, manufactures, and sells passenger cars sold under the Changan brand and commercial vehicles sold under the Chana brand.

Current Changan models

The Changan range currently includes the following models:[18]


  • Chang'an Ben Ben (BenBen E-Star)
  • Chang'an Alsvin (Third Generation)
  • Chang'an Eado DT (Alsvin V7 facelift)
  • Chang'an Eado
  • Chang'an Eado XT
  • Chang'an Eado Plus (Eado facelift)
  • Chang'an Linmax
  • Chang'an Raeton
  • Changan Raeton CC
  • Changan UNI-T
  • Changan UNI-K
  • Chang'an CS15
  • Chang'an CS35
  • Chang'an CS35 Plus
  • Chang'an CS55
  • Chang'an CS55 Plus
  • Chang'an CS75
  • Chang'an CS75 Plus
  • Chang'an CS85 Coupe
  • Chang'an CS95

Discontinued Changan models
  • Chang'an Alsvin
  • Chang'an Alsvin V3
  • Chang'an Alsvin V5
  • Chang'an Alsvin V7
  • Chang'an CX20
  • Chang'an CV7
  • Chang'an CX30 Hatchback (CV8)
  • Chang'an CX30 Sedan (CV8)
  • Chana Eulove
  • Chang'an Joice (Jiexun)
  • Chana CM5
  • Chana CM8
  • Chana CM7 Raimondi

Current Kaicene models


  • Chana Ruixing S50V
  • Chana Ruixing M90
  • Chana Ruixing M80
  • Chana Ruixing M70
  • Chana Honor

Discontinued Kaicene models
  • Chana Taurustar
  • Chang'an (Chana) Shenqi
  • Chana Star

Current Oushan (Ossan/Oshan) models


  • Oushan COS1°
  • Oushan COS1° GT
  • Oushan X5
  • Oushan X7
  • Oushan Cosmos
  • Chana X70A
  • Chana CX70
  • Chana CX70T
  • Chana Oushang A600
  • Chana Oushang A800
  • Oushan Changxing

Discontinued Oushan (Ossan/Oshan) models
  • Chana Eulove EV

Current Kuayue models
  • Kuayue Kuayuewang
  • Kuayue Chana V3
  • Kuayue Xinbao




Electric vehicles

After six years of R&D, Changan debuted a hybrid automobile in 2007.[2] China subsidizes oil, an incentive for the use and manufacture of electric cars, and Chinese automakers see opportunities in less mature electric vehicles because Western companies have yet to develop much of a lead in the technology.[24] In August 2020, Changan released the first purely electric vehicle under their Oushang/Oshan brand, the Oshan X7 EV, a compact SUV based upon the 1.5L car they had been selling in China for a couple of years previously.[25]

Production and research facilities

Domestic

Changan has four major production bases (in the City of Chongqing, Hebei province, Jiangsu province, and Jiangxi province), eleven automobile production bases, and two engine production bases in mainland China[26] for a more-current total of 21 vehicle-making bases including newer sites in Anhui province, Guangdong province, Heilongjiang province, Shandong province, and Shanxi province.

Anhui

A planned 300,000 units/year capacity mini-vehicle production base in Hefei, Anhui province, should see completion in 2011. Production capacity figures may consider engines and vehicles as discrete.

Beijing

An existing R&D center in Beijing[27] will soon be joined by a passenger car production base in Fangshan District, Beijing, which will become operational in 2012.

Chongqing

Chang'an has numerous sites in the city of Chongqing. A Chang'an-Ford plant and another, planned Chang'an-Ford plant (which may produce engines[28]) are joined by a Chongqing-based R&D center[27] and an industrial park in Yubei, Chongqing.

Hebei

An industrial park in Hebei province may continue to be Chang'an controlled.

Heilongjiang

A Harbin, Heilongjiang province, R&D center, is now a Chang'an asset.[27] It may have been owned by Hafei prior.

Jiangsu

A Chang'an-Ford plant and an industrial park in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, may comprise Chang'an operations in this province.

Jiangxi

A planned Chang'an commercial vehicle production base in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi province, will produce JMC and Ford-branded vehicles[28] and join an R&D center[27] as a second facility in this province. The latter facility may be a former Changhe asset.

Shanghai

Chang'an has an R&D center in this coastal city.[27]

International

The company maintains four factories in international markets and several overseas R&D centers. Chang'an had an assembly plant in Poteau, Oklahoma, piecing together products sold under the Tiger Truck brand from 2007 to 2010.[29] The Changan CS35 is built in Lipetsk region of Russia since 2016.[30]

Also Changan vans and pickup trucks were assembled in Ganja Auto Plant Ganja city, Azerbaijan in 2005.

Karachi

Changan has built a production facility in Karachi Pakistan with an investment of US$100 million. This plant will make right hand drive passenger vehicles for Pakistan as well other right hand drive markets. First Made in Pakistan unit of Changan rolled out on 2 May 2019. With a manufacturing capacity of 30,000 cars per year this facility will be Changan's first to produce right hand drive cars.

R&D centers

Chang'an has over 7,000 engineers and researcher working in R&D facilities in Chongqing, Beijing, Shanghai and Harbin,[7] Turin, Italy,[27] and Yokohama, Japan.[27] It set up two more in 2011. These are located in Birmingham (originally was set up in Nottingham), United Kingdom, and Detroit, United States.[31] The Detroit center opened in early 2011, and its office was moved from Nottingham to Birmingham 2015.[32][33]

Joint ventures

Like most major Chinese automakers, Changan partners with Western and Japanese companies to produce and sell the products of these foreign firms in China. Changan currently participates in the following joint ventures: Changan Ford (2001–present),[9] and Changan Mazda (2012–present).[34]

Jiangling Motor Holding Co. Ltd. (Chinese: 江西江铃控股有限公司; pinyin: Jiāngxī Jiānglíng Kònggǔ Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī), also known by the initialism JMH, was a joint venture established in October 2004 and controlled equally by Changan and JMCG. To create Jiangling Motor Holding Changan invested money and in exchange JMCG transferred its Jiangling Motors Corporation (JMC) equity to the venture. Jiangling Motor Holding was the largest shareholder of JMC,[35] with a 41.03% stake as of March 2018.[36] JMH also owned the Landwind marque.[35][37]

In April 2019, it was announced that JMCG and Changan planned to split JMH into two separate companies: one keeping the same name and other tentatively called Jiangling Investment. Jiangling Investment would hold the 41.03% JMC stake and some liabilities and would still be equally owned by Changan and JMCG. The new JMH would own the rest of the former JMH assets (including Landwind)[38][39] and it would issue 100% more shares to be sold to investors, leaving JMCG and Changan with a 25% stake each.[39] Jiangling Investment was formally established in May 2019, completing the split of the former JMH.[40] In June 2019, it was announced that the investor for the new JMH was the car manufacturer Aiways. Aiways acquired a 50% of the new JMH with the aim of securing production permits for new energy vehicles.[41][42]

Changan Ford
Main article: Changan Ford
A Chinese police Ford Focus, 2007

In 2001, Chang'an Ford was formed[43] and initially built Ford-branded passenger vehicles from complete knock down kits.

Making Chinese-market versions of Ford consumer offerings,[3] its 2010 dealer network was thought to include many showrooms in second- and third-tier Chinese cities such as Chongqing.[44] So-called second- and third-tier cities are large and medium-sized cities not among the top four in terms of population and contribution to GDP.[45]

Changan PSA
Main article: Changan PSA
DS 5LS

Changan and the French car manufacturer PSA Peugeot Citroën agreed in 2010 to set up a 50/50 passenger car and light commercial vehicle-making joint venture.[46] Named CAPSA, it was the PSA Group's second joint venture company in China, after Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën Automobile, and its first with Chang'an.[47] Centering on a newly built production base in Shenzhen, it wasestimated that initial production capacity for the project will be 200,000 units/year.[48] Manufacturing commenced in 2014, with China specific Citroën DS models; the DS 5LS first and then the DS 6WR.[49] The venture was dissolved in 2020.

Changan Suzuki
Chang'an Suzuki SC7080 Alto
Main article: Changan Suzuki

Technical and commercial cooperation with Suzuki Motors, beginning in 1983, saw Changan assembling inexpensive commercial trucks (originally the Suzuki Carry ST90 as the Chang'an SC112[50]) under license into the 2000s.[51] The two companies formed Chongqing Chang'an Suzuki Automobile Co in 1993,[43] which built licensed versions of the Suzuki Alto, Suzuki Cultus, and more recently the Swift.

In parallel with its Suzuki joint venture, Changan also continued to build small trucks and vans for commercial use based on the 1999 Suzuki Carry license, but independently developed vehicles are quickly replacing them.[51] These small cars carry the Changan brand name although Suzuki technology is used in their design and manufacture.

In 2010, Changan was supposed to merge its Suzuki joint venture with that of Changhe, another automaker that participates in a project with the Japanese company.[13] The Chinese State may also not want new foreign-Chinese joint auto-making ventures at this time.[52] An effort to sell the entire Suzuki model range at unified dealerships fell through in 2008.[53] (This may have been tried again in 2010.)[54]

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