The Chinese car industry, event by event
60 events, 1953 to 2026: the first plants, the joint-venture decades that followed the opening, the overseas purchases, the turn to electric cars and the export years. Each entry names the document it came from.
Founding
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FAW breaks ground in Changchun, and builds the first Jiefang truck
The foundation-laying ceremony for the First Automobile Works was held at Changchun in Jilin province on 15 July 1953, under the first Five-Year Plan and with Soviet technical and financial assistance; Mao Zedong wrote the inscription placed on the foundation stone. In July 1956 the plant built the first Jiefang CA-10, a four-tonne truck derived from the Soviet ZIS-150, in an initial batch of twelve. Jiefang 解放 (Jiěfàng, "liberation") was the name Mao gave the marque, and the model stayed in production in successive forms for decades. The works was the first vehicle factory built from nothing in the People's Republic.
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China's first passenger cars: the Dongfeng CA71 and the first Hongqi
FAW completed the first Dongfeng CA71 saloon on 12 May 1958, following a 1956 Politburo decision to have the plant build a passenger car; about 20 to 30 were made. Three months later, in August 1958, FAW finished the first prototype of a larger state limousine under the Hongqi 红旗 (Hóngqí, "red flag") name, drawing on a Chrysler Imperial for its mechanical layout. The Hongqi CA72 entered small-scale production in 1959 and was supplied to government bodies and party leaders rather than sold.
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The Second Automobile Works is built at Shiyan
Construction of the Second Automobile Works began at Shiyan in the mountains of Hubei in autumn 1969, part of the "Third Front" policy of siting strategic industry inland. Workers and design institutes were transferred from more than thirty organisations across the country to a site with no existing town. The works became Dongfeng Motor Corporation, and Shiyan grew up around it as a company city.
The joint-venture decades
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Beijing Jeep, China's first automotive joint venture
American Motors Corporation and Beijing Automobile Works signed the contract for Beijing Jeep Corporation on 5 May 1983, and the venture began operating on 15 January 1984. It was the first Sino-foreign joint venture in the motor industry, made possible by the reform policy adopted at the Third Plenum in December 1978 and the 1979 joint-venture law. AMC passed to Chrysler in 1987 and its successor business is now part of Stellantis.
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Shanghai Volkswagen is signed, and the Santana follows
After six years of negotiation, Volkswagen signed the joint-venture contract for Shanghai Volkswagen in Beijing in October 1984 with Chinese partners including the Shanghai vehicle industry and the China National Automotive Industry Corporation. Assembly of the Volkswagen Santana at Anting began the following year, and the model went on to dominate Chinese taxi and government fleets for two decades. Volkswagen dates its first contact with Chinese partners to 1978.
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Guangzhou Peugeot opens, and closes twelve years later
Guangzhou Peugeot Automobile Company was founded on 26 September 1985 by the Guangzhou municipal government and PSA Peugeot Citroen, building the Peugeot 504 and 505. Output stayed low and the venture recorded roughly 100,000 vehicles across its life; Peugeot sold its stake in March 1997. Guangzhou then partnered with Honda on the same site, and PSA's successor company today is Stellantis.
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Li Shufu founds Geely, and takes it into cars in 1997
Li Shufu started Geely in 1986 as a maker of refrigerator components in Taizhou, Zhejiang, moving into motorcycles in the mid-1990s after buying a bankrupt state-owned producer. In 1997 the company built car plants and prepared to enter vehicle manufacturing, becoming the first privately owned Chinese carmaker. Its first car, the Geely Haoqing, was completed at Linhai in August 1998, but a national production licence did not arrive until November 2001, which held back volume until 2002.
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FAW-Volkswagen is established in Changchun
FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Company was set up at Changchun in February 1991, giving Volkswagen a second Chinese joint venture alongside Shanghai. Audi joined the shareholding, and the venture went on to build Jetta, Bora and Audi models for the domestic market. Two ventures with two separate state groups became the template most foreign carmakers later copied.
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The Automotive Industry Policy sets the 50 percent ownership limit
The State Planning Commission issued the Policy for the Automotive Industry in 1994. It capped foreign shareholdings in vehicle manufacturing joint ventures at 50 percent and limited any foreign carmaker to two joint ventures for the same class of vehicle, a combination usually shortened to "50 percent plus two". The rule stayed in force through revisions in 2004 and 2009 and was not fully removed until 2022.
King & Wood Mallesons · Cornell University (C.-Y. Cynthia Lin Lawell)
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BYD is founded as a battery maker, and buys a car plant in 2003
Wang Chuanfu founded BYD in Shenzhen in February 1995 to make rechargeable batteries, first for mobile phones and portable electronics. In January 2003 the company acquired the small state-owned Xi'an Qinchuan Automobile plant and renamed it BYD Auto, entering vehicle manufacturing with a battery business already behind it. That order — cells first, cars second — shaped the company's later vertical integration.
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Chery is founded in Wuhu and builds its first car in 1999
The Wuhu municipal government in Anhui set up the vehicle project that became Chery in 1997, using a second-hand Ford engine line bought from the United Kingdom. The first Chery Fengyun left the line on 18 December 1999, but the company had no national production licence and could not sell freely. In 2001 Chery transferred a 20 percent stake to SAIC, which brought it inside an approved manufacturer and allowed nationwide sales.
Chery Holding Group · Wuhu municipal government (Wuhu SASAC) · SAIC Motor
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Shanghai GM is formed
Shanghai General Motors, a 50:50 venture between SAIC and General Motors, was founded on 12 June 1997. Its Pudong plant built its first Buick Regal on 17 December 1998. Buick, already an old name in China, became the venture's volume brand and GM's Chinese business later grew to rival its home market in unit sales.
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Guangzhou Honda takes over the Peugeot site
Guangzhou Honda Automobile was established on 1 July 1998 as a 50:50 venture between Honda and the Guangzhou vehicle group, using the plant Peugeot had left the previous year. The line-off ceremony for the first China-built Accord was held on 26 March 1999, with 10,000 units planned for that year. Honda chose to start with the wide-body Accord sold in the United States rather than a smaller model.
After the WTO
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China joins the World Trade Organization
China became the 143rd member of the World Trade Organization on 11 December 2001. Its accession commitments required import tariffs on cars to fall from 80-100 percent to 25 percent by mid-2006 and on parts to 10 percent, with import quotas phased out by 2005. Foreign carmakers responded by adding Chinese assembly capacity rather than shipping finished cars: Toyota signed a long-term cooperation agreement with FAW in August 2002, and Nissan and Dongfeng founded the 50:50 Dongfeng Motor Company on 9 June 2003 with registered capital of 16.7 billion yuan. Domestic output rose sharply through the decade.
Toyota Motor Corporation · Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. · FAW Group · Dongfeng Motor Group
World Trade Organization · U.S. Government Accountability Office · Nissan Motor Corporation · Toyota Motor Corporation
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Changan Ford builds its first car in Chongqing
Ford and Changan established the 50:50 Changan Ford Automobile joint venture on 25 April 2001, and the first car, a Ford Fiesta, left the Chongqing line on 18 January 2003. Ford entered China later than Volkswagen and General Motors and built its position around Changan, a group whose roots lie in a nineteenth-century arsenal. The venture later added Mazda before that partner was separated out.
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Nanjing buys MG Rover, and SAIC absorbs Nanjing
On 22 July 2005 the administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers sold the assets of MG Rover Group and its Powertrain engine business to Nanjing Automobile Corporation for about 53 million pounds, outbidding SAIC, which had already bought rights to Rover model designs. Nanjing shipped much of the Longbridge plant to China and restarted limited MG assembly. On 26 December 2007 Nanjing Automobile was merged into SAIC, which paid 2.095 billion yuan and issued shares to Nanjing's parent Yuejin; SAIC thereby gained the MG marque alongside its own Roewe brand.
SAIC Motor · MG · Roewe · Yuejin
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Berkshire Hathaway buys into BYD, and the F3DM follows
MidAmerican Energy Holdings, a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, agreed in late September 2008 to pay HK$1.8 billion (about US$230 million) for 225 million BYD shares, close to 10 percent of the enlarged company. Charlie Munger had pressed for the investment. On 15 December 2008 BYD put the F3DM on sale to government and corporate buyers in China: a plug-in hybrid saloon that reached the market before any Western equivalent, though it sold only 48 units in its first year. Berkshire began selling down in 2022 and had left the shareholding entirely by 2025.
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China becomes the largest vehicle market, and starts subsidising electric cars
China's vehicle sales reached about 13.6 million units in 2009 against 10.4 million in the United States, the first year any country bought more vehicles than the United States; sales tax cuts on small cars and a rural purchase programme drove the increase. In January 2009 the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Science and Technology approved the demonstration programme usually called "Ten Cities, Thousand Vehicles", which put new energy vehicles into public fleets in an initial group of cities with central purchase subsidies. The programme was widened in later batches to 88 cities.
Going global
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Geely completes the purchase of Volvo Cars from Ford
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group closed its acquisition of 100 percent of Volvo Car Corporation from Ford Motor Company on 2 August 2010. The price was US$1.8 billion, made up of US$1.3 billion in cash, a US$200 million note and adjustments, funded from Chinese institutions, Geely's balance sheet and international capital markets. Li Shufu became chairman of Volvo Cars and Stefan Jacoby was appointed its chief executive; Volvo was run at arm's length from Geely Auto rather than merged into it.
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The Wuling Hongguang goes on sale
SAIC-GM-Wuling began building the Hongguang in September 2010, a rear-wheel-drive compact people carrier priced for small traders and rural buyers. It became the highest-volume model of its kind in China and, by General Motors' account, has passed 5.9 million cumulative sales. The car showed that the largest domestic volumes sat below the price points foreign brands were competing at.
SAIC-GM-Wuling · Wuling · SAIC Motor · General Motors Company
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CATL is founded at Ningde
Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited was set up in 2011 at Ningde in Fujian, when Zeng Yuqun and colleagues separated the vehicle battery business from the consumer-cell maker ATL, which Zeng had founded in 1999. CATL supplied cells to the domestic makers as the subsidy programmes expanded and became the largest supplier of vehicle traction batteries worldwide. Battery supply, rather than vehicle assembly, is where much of the Chinese industry's value now sits.
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The State Council issues the 2012-2020 new energy vehicle plan
The State Council published the Energy-Saving and New Energy Automobile Industry Development Plan (2012-2020) on 28 June 2012 as document Guofa [2012] No. 22. It set cumulative production and sales of battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars at 500,000 by 2015 and more than five million by 2020, and named battery, motor and control technology as priorities. Later instruments, including the 2017 dual-credit rules requiring carmakers to earn new energy vehicle credits, were built on this framework.
China Energy Portal (translation of State Council document) · DieselNet
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The Qoros 3 is the first Chinese-developed car to score five Euro NCAP stars
Euro NCAP awarded five stars to the Qoros 3 saloon in September 2013 with an overall score of 88 percent, the highest of any car it tested that year. Qoros was a joint venture between Chery and Israel Corporation, and the car was built at Changshu in Jiangsu. Earlier Chinese exports had produced poor European crash results, and the Qoros score was the first evidence that Chinese-built cars could meet the standard.
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NIO and Xpeng are founded
Xpeng was founded at Guangzhou in August 2014 by He Xiaopeng with two former GAC engineers, Xia Heng and He Tao. NIO was founded in November 2014 by William Li, with backing that included Tencent and other internet investors. Neither had a vehicle production licence at the outset, and both initially built through contract manufacturing partners.
NIO · Xpeng · William Li · He Xiaopeng
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New energy vehicles are exempted from purchase tax
From 1 September 2014 qualifying new energy vehicles were exempted from China's 10 percent vehicle purchase tax, applying to both domestic and imported models on an approved catalogue. The exemption sat alongside the direct purchase subsidies and was worth roughly 10,000 yuan on a mid-priced car. It has been extended repeatedly and, in reduced form, runs to the end of 2027.
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ChemChina agrees to take over Pirelli
China National Chemical Corporation announced in March 2015 that its tyre unit would buy Camfin's 26.2 percent holding in Pirelli and then bid for the rest, valuing the Italian company at about 7.1 billion euros before debt. Pirelli was delisted from the Milan exchange in November 2015 and returned to the market in 2017 with the Chinese group retaining a large stake. It was among the largest Chinese purchases of a European vehicle-industry supplier.
The electric turn
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Li Auto is founded
Li Xiang founded Li Auto in Beijing in July 2015, after building the car website Autohome. The company chose range-extended electric vehicles, in which a petrol engine charges the battery but does not drive the wheels, rather than pure battery power. That choice put its first model outside the pure-electric mainstream and, for several years, outside some subsidy categories.
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Green plates for new energy vehicles enter trial
The traffic management bureau of the Ministry of Public Security announced a new registration plate for new energy vehicles on 21 November 2016 and began issuing it on 1 December 2016 in Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuxi, Jinan and Shenzhen. The plate is green, 40mm wider than the standard plate and carries one extra character. Twelve more cities joined in November 2017 before the format went nationwide, and the colour is now the quickest way to tell an electric or plug-in car apart in traffic.
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GAC exhibits at Detroit and announces a United States launch
GAC took a stand on the main floor of the Detroit auto show in January 2017, the first Chinese carmaker to do so, and said it would begin selling in the United States by the end of 2019, starting with the GS8 sport utility vehicle. The company also said it would trade as GAC Motor rather than use the Trumpchi name in that market. The plan was abandoned as tariffs rose during the trade dispute, and no GAC vehicle has been sold in the United States.
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Li Shufu becomes Daimler's largest shareholder
A vehicle controlled by Li Shufu disclosed a 9.69 percent holding in Daimler AG in late February 2018, worth about 7.3 billion euros, making him the largest single shareholder in the maker of Mercedes-Benz. The stake was built through market purchases and derivatives and was held personally rather than by Geely Automobile Holdings. Geely and Mercedes-Benz later formed a 50:50 venture to run the smart brand.
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The foreign ownership cap is put on a removal timetable
The National Development and Reform Commission set out on 17 April 2018 a five-year schedule for ending the ownership limits imposed in 1994: the cap would go for special-purpose and new energy vehicles in 2018, for commercial vehicles in 2020 and for passenger cars in 2022, when the two-joint-venture limit would also end. The announcement followed Xi Jinping's statement at the Boao Forum a week earlier. The passenger-car stage took effect on 1 January 2022, ending the rule that had shaped the industry for 28 years.
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NIO opens its first battery swap station
NIO put its first battery swap station into service at the Nanshan high-technology park in Shenzhen in May 2018, allowing an ES8 to exchange a discharged pack for a charged one without the driver leaving the car. The company sells vehicles with the battery separated from the car price under a subscription, which depends on the swap network. NIO listed on the New York Stock Exchange on 12 September 2018, raising about US$1 billion.
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Tesla signs for a wholly owned plant in Shanghai
Tesla signed an investment agreement with the Shanghai municipal government and the Lingang management committee on 10 July 2018 for a plant it would own outright, the first vehicle manufacturing project in China with no Chinese joint-venture partner. The arrangement was possible because the new energy vehicle ownership cap had been lifted in 2018. Construction began on 7 January 2019 with a stated first-phase capacity of 500,000 cars a year.
Tesla, Inc. · Shanghai Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission
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SAIC relaunches MG in continental Europe
SAIC began MG sales in the Netherlands in the second half of 2019 with the MG ZS EV, adding Norway in February 2020 and then Germany, France, Spain and Italy. MG had been sold in the United Kingdom since the Longbridge restart, but the 2019 move made it the first Chinese-owned brand to build a mainstream European network. European sales grew from roughly 1,200 units in 2019 to about 21,000 in 2021.
SAIC Motor · MG
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The first China-built Teslas are handed over
Tesla delivered the first Model 3 cars built at its Shanghai plant on 30 December 2019, 357 days after construction started; the initial 15 went to employees. The plant later added the Model Y and became Tesla's main export base for Europe and parts of Asia. Its output made Tesla the first foreign carmaker to build and export vehicles from China without a Chinese partner.
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Hefei's government invests in NIO
NIO signed definitive agreements on 29 April 2020 under which investors led by Hefei City Construction and Investment Holding, CMG-SDIC Capital and Anhui Provincial Emerging Industry Investment put 7 billion yuan into NIO (Anhui) Holdings, the entity holding NIO's Chinese operations, and NIO moved that business's headquarters to Hefei. NIO contributed assets valued at 17.77 billion yuan and 4.26 billion yuan in cash, ending with 75.9 percent of the Chinese entity. The company had been close to running out of money; the investment is often cited as an example of municipal government rescue of a private carmaker.
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The Wuling Hongguang Mini EV goes on sale
SAIC-GM-Wuling launched the Hongguang Mini EV at the Chengdu show in July 2020 from 28,800 yuan, a four-seat city car with a 9.2 kWh or 13.8 kWh battery and an NEDC range of 120 or 170 km. It sold more than 15,000 units in its first 20 days and was the best-selling electric car in the world for much of 2021. The model showed that a large share of Chinese electric demand was for very small, very cheap vehicles.
SAIC-GM-Wuling · Wuling · SAIC Motor · General Motors Company
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Li Auto and Xpeng list in the United States
Li Auto floated on Nasdaq on 30 July 2020, raising about US$1.1 billion, and Xpeng listed on the New York Stock Exchange on 27 August 2020. With NIO, listed in 2018, the three largest Chinese electric-vehicle startups were now funded from American markets. All three later added Hong Kong listings as delisting risk in the United States grew.
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The 2021-2035 new energy vehicle plan is issued
The General Office of the State Council published the New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035) on 2 November 2020. It set new energy vehicles at about 20 percent of new vehicle sales by 2025 and made battery-electric cars the mainstream of new sales by 2035, with public fleets fully electrified. Actual sales passed the 2025 target several years early: the China Passenger Car Association put new energy vehicles at 50.84 percent of passenger-car retail sales in July 2024, the first month above half. In that usage new energy vehicle means battery-electric, plug-in hybrid and range-extended cars together, not battery-electric alone.
China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) · International Energy Agency · CnEVPost
The export era
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Geely Holding launches Zeekr
Zeekr Intelligent Technology was incorporated on 23 March 2021 as a venture between Geely Automobile Holdings and Zhejiang Geely Holding, with initial capital of about 2 billion yuan. The first model, the Zeekr 001, was presented in April 2021 and deliveries began that October. Zeekr was Geely's attempt to build a premium electric brand separate from both Geely Auto and Volvo Cars.
Geely Holding · Geely · Zeekr
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Xiaomi announces it will build cars
Xiaomi told the Hong Kong exchange on 30 March 2021 that its board had approved a wholly owned electric vehicle subsidiary, with 10 billion yuan of initial capital and a stated intention to invest US$10 billion over ten years. Lei Jun, the founder, took the chief executive role at the car unit himself. It was the largest commitment to car making by a Chinese consumer electronics company.
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Huawei and Seres launch AITO, and the alliance is named in 2023
AITO was launched in December 2021 by Seres with Huawei supplying the operating system, electric drive components, software and access to Huawei's retail network. Huawei states that it does not build cars itself, and takes no equity in the carmakers. In November 2023 the arrangement was formalised as the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, which by 2026 covered AITO with Seres, Luxeed with Chery, Stelato with BAIC and Maextro with JAC, and passed one million cumulative deliveries in October 2025.
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. · Seres Group · AITO · Luxeed · Stelato · Maextro
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BMW takes 75 percent of BMW Brilliance
BMW's holding in BMW Brilliance Automotive rose from 50 to 75 percent on 11 February 2022, when the venture received its amended business licence; Brilliance China Automotive retains 25 percent and the joint-venture contract runs to 2040. BMW paid about 3.7 billion euros and began consolidating the venture in full. It was the first case of a foreign carmaker taking majority control of an established Chinese passenger-car venture after the ownership rules changed.
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BYD stops building combustion-only cars
BYD told the Hong Kong exchange in early April 2022 that it had ceased production of petrol and diesel-only vehicles from March 2022, keeping only battery-electric and plug-in hybrid cars in its range. It said it would continue supplying parts and after-sales service for existing combustion vehicles. It was the first established carmaker of any size to end combustion-only production.
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China becomes the largest vehicle exporter
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers reported exports of 4.91 million vehicles in 2023 against 4.42 million from Japan, putting China first for a full year for the first time. Customs figures for the same year were higher at 5.22 million. New energy vehicles accounted for 1.203 million of the CAAM total; Russia, Mexico and Belgium were among the largest destinations after Western sanctions redirected trade.
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Tesla cuts Chinese prices and a price war follows
China's central purchase subsidy for new energy vehicles was withdrawn on 31 December 2022 after thirteen years, having been cut by 10 percent against 2019 levels in 2020, 20 percent in 2021 and 30 percent in 2022; the purchase-tax exemption stayed. Days later Tesla reduced prices on the China-built Model 3 and Model Y, taking the entry Model 3 to 229,900 yuan from 265,900 yuan. BYD, Xpeng and others cut prices in response and discounting spread across the market through 2023 and 2024. Sustained price competition became the main pressure on margins for the smaller Chinese makers.
Tesla, Inc. · BYD · Xpeng
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Stellantis buys into Leapmotor
Stellantis announced on 26 October 2023 that it would invest about 1.5 billion euros for roughly 20 percent of Leapmotor and form Leapmotor International, a joint venture 51 percent held by Stellantis with exclusive rights to export, sell and manufacture Leapmotor vehicles outside Greater China. The subscription completed on 20 November 2023, leaving Stellantis with 21.26 percent. The structure let a European group sell Chinese-designed cars through its own network rather than build competing models.
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BYD announces a car plant in Hungary
BYD said on 22 December 2023 that it would build a passenger-vehicle plant at Szeged in Hungary, its first such factory in Europe. The company described a phased build on a large site with local supply-chain and employment effects. Production inside the European Union would place vehicles outside the import duties the European Commission was then investigating.
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Xiaomi shows the SU7, and starts deliveries in 2024
Lei Jun presented the Xiaomi SU7 saloon and its technical specification on 28 December 2023, without prices. The car went on sale on 28 March 2024 at 215,900, 245,900 and 299,900 yuan for the three versions, took 50,000 orders within half an hour, and first deliveries followed on 3 April 2024. Xiaomi reported more than 130,000 deliveries in 2024, its first year of sales.
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BYD passes four million vehicles in a year
BYD reported 4,272,145 new energy vehicles sold in 2024, up 41.3 percent, of which 1,764,992 were battery-electric and 2,485,378 plug-in hybrid; overseas sales were 417,204. It had already displaced Volkswagen as the best-selling car brand in China in 2023, the first time a domestic brand had led the market since Volkswagen's run began. Revenue for 2024 was 777.1 billion yuan.
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The United States raises the tariff on Chinese electric vehicles to 100 percent
The Office of the United States Trade Representative published its final Section 301 modifications on 18 September 2024, taking effect on 27 September 2024. The duty on electric vehicles from China rose to 100 percent, with increases also applied to lithium-ion vehicle batteries, battery parts, solar cells, steel, aluminium and certain critical minerals. Almost no Chinese-brand passenger cars were being sold in the United States at the time; the measure was directed at future entry.
Office of the United States Trade Representative (Federal Register) · White & Case LLP
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The European Union imposes countervailing duties on Chinese electric cars
The European Commission adopted Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2754 on 29 October 2024, imposing definitive countervailing duties of 7.8 to 35.3 percent on battery-electric passenger cars made in China, in force from 30 October 2024 for five years. The rates were set per exporting producer after a thirteen-month anti-subsidy investigation; sampled producers included BYD, Geely and SAIC, and the duties are added to the existing 10 percent import tariff. Talks on replacing the duties with minimum import prices continued after adoption.
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Ji Yue stops operating
Ji Yue, the electric brand formed by Baidu and Geely, ceased normal operations in December 2024 after its shareholders declined further funding; staff learned of the collapse over two days from 11 December. The company had delivered roughly 14,000 vehicles and had accumulated losses reported at about 7 billion yuan. Geely and Baidu agreed to cover outstanding social insurance payments for employees.
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BYD builds an overseas plant network
BYD opened a plant at Rayong in Thailand in July 2024 with a stated capacity of 150,000 vehicles a year, its first wholly owned assembly site outside China, and on 8 July 2024 signed an agreement with the Turkish government for a plant of similar size at Manisa with about US$1 billion of investment. It began building vehicles at Camacari in Bahia state, Brazil, on 1 July 2025, on the site of a former Ford plant, with a first-phase capacity of 150,000 vehicles and stated investment of 5.5 billion reais; the Seagull was the first model built there. The Hungarian plant announced in December 2023 had not reached mass production by that point, with the company saying in September 2025 that Szeged output would begin in 2025. In October 2025 the Brazilian plant produced BYD's fourteen-millionth new energy vehicle.
BYD Company Ltd. · CnEVPost · Malay Mail / AFP · CnEVPost · CnEVPost
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China Changan Automobile Group becomes a central state enterprise
The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission held the inaugural meeting of China Changan Automobile Group in Chongqing on 29 July 2025. The company was registered on 27 July with capital of 20 billion yuan and was separated from China South Industries Group, which had held it, to report directly to the central government. It became the third centrally administered state carmaker alongside FAW and Dongfeng, and oversees 117 subsidiaries and branches.
Changan Automobile · State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council
State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council · CarNewsChina
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Chery lists in Hong Kong
Chery Automobile began trading on the main board of the Hong Kong exchange on 25 September 2025 under code 9973, having issued 297 million H shares at HK$30.75 to raise about HK$9.15 billion. The shares opened at HK$34.20 and closed the first day at HK$31.92. Chery had attempted a listing for many years and is the largest Chinese vehicle exporter by volume.
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Zeekr is taken private and leaves the New York exchange
Geely Automobile Holdings completed its merger with Zeekr, and Zeekr's American depositary shares stopped trading on the New York Stock Exchange from 22 December 2025. Under the July 2025 agreement Geely paid US$2.687 in cash plus 1.23 Geely shares for each share it did not already hold, valuing the minority at about US$2.4 billion and raising its holding from 65.7 percent to 100 percent. Zeekr had listed in New York only in May 2024; Geely gave the removal of duplicated engineering as the reason.
Geely Holding · Geely · Zeekr · Lynk & Co
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The European Commission opens a minimum-price route out of the duties
The European Commission published a guidance document on 12 January 2026 setting out how Chinese producers of battery-electric cars may offer price undertakings covering minimum import price, sales channels, cross-compensation and future investment in the European Union. An accepted undertaking exempts the producer from the countervailing duties imposed in October 2024. The first acceptance came on 10 February 2026, for Volkswagen (Anhui) Automotive and the CUPRA Tavascan, subject to volume limits and investment commitments.
European Commission, Directorate-General for Trade · European Commission, Directorate-General for Trade
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Monthly vehicle exports pass one million for the first time
The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers recorded 1.037 million vehicles exported in June 2026, the first month above one million, and 4.059 million for January to June with an export value of US$72.8 billion. New energy vehicles were 523,000 of the June figure, more than half of monthly exports for the first time. CAAM had forecast total 2026 exports of about 7.4 million and later revised the outlook upward.
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Li Shufu steps down as chairman of Geely Auto
Li Shufu resigned as chairman and executive director of Geely Automobile Holdings with effect from 18 August 2026, and was made honorary chairman for life; An Conghui succeeded him as chairman and Gan Jiayue became chief executive. Li remains chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding and the controlling shareholder of Geely Automobile Holdings, so ownership did not change. It is the first leadership handover at one of the large Chinese private carmakers founded in the 1980s and 1990s.
Related
Sources for the timeline
- Wikipedia, FAW Group. Read . Finding aid for the 15 July 1953 foundation-laying date and the Soviet assistance.
- Our China Story, China's first automobile successfully produced. Read . Ground-breaking date and Mao's foundation inscription.
- Wikipedia, FAW Jiefang. Read . July 1956 first CA-10; ZIS-150 origin; naming.
- ChinaCarHistory, The First Auto Works Dongfeng CA71 Was China's First Car. Read . April 1956 Politburo decision; car completed 12 May 1958; roughly 20 built.
- Wikipedia, Hongqi CA72. Read . August 1958 first prototype; 1959 production start.
- Hongqi (FAW), History. Read . Brand's own account of its 1958 origin.
- Wikipedia, Dongfeng Motor Corporation. Read . 1969 founding of the Second Automobile Works at Shiyan.
- CarNewsChina, The Big Read – Dongfeng (1/6) – The longest conception in automotive history. Read . Third Front context and the 28 October 1969 start of large-scale construction.
- UPI Archives, AMC, Peking firm begin operations. Read . Contemporary report of the 15 January 1984 start of operations.
- Asian Case Research Journal, Beijing Jeep at a Crossroads: Facing the Challenge of China's Entry into the WTO. Read . Case study confirming the 1983 signing and the venture's status as the first.
- Volkswagen Group China, About VGC. Read . 1978 first contact; 1984 establishment of the group's first Chinese joint venture.
- Wikipedia, SAIC Volkswagen. Read . October 1984 contract, Anting site, 1985 start of Santana assembly.
- Wikipedia, Guangzhou Peugeot Automobile Company. Read . 26 September 1985 founding; March 1997 exit; production totals.
- ChinaCarHistory, The rise and fall of Guangzhou-Peugeot. Read .
- Wikipedia, Geely. Read . 1986 founding, 1997 entry into car making, 8 August 1998 first Haoqing, November 2001 licence.
- Reuters (via Euronews), Special Report: How the Chinese tycoon driving Volvo plans to tackle Tesla. Read . Refrigerator-parts origin and the motorcycle step.
- Wikipedia, FAW-Volkswagen. Read . February 1991 establishment; Audi and FAW as shareholders.
- King & Wood Mallesons, Impact of China Removal of Restrictions in Auto Sector. Read . 1994 policy, the 50 percent cap and the two-venture rule, and their persistence to 2022.
- Cornell University (C.-Y. Cynthia Lin Lawell), The Chinese Automobile Industry and Government Policy. Read .
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, BYD | History, Electric Vehicles, Batteries, & SkyRail. Read . February 1995 founding as a battery company in Shenzhen.
- Wikipedia, BYD Auto. Read . 2002-2003 acquisition of Xi'an Qinchuan Automobile and creation of BYD Auto.
- Gasgoo, Wheels of Change: the Story of Chery Holding Group (Part 1). Read . 1997 establishment in Wuhu; 18 December 1999 first Fengyun; 2001 SAIC stake and licence.
- Wikipedia, Chery. Read .
- Wikipedia, SAIC-GM. Read . 12 June 1997 founding; 17 December 1998 first Buick Regal.
- GM Authority, SAIC-GM Joint Venture Builds Its 20-Millionth Vehicle. Read .
- Honda Motor Co., Ltd., Accord Production Line-Off Ceremony Held in China. Read . Company release dated 26 March 1999: July 1998 establishment, 50/50 shareholding, first-year volume.
- World Trade Organization, China and the WTO. Read . Accession date of 11 December 2001.
- U.S. Government Accountability Office, World Trade Organization: Analysis of China's Commitments to Other Members (GAO-03-4). Read . Tariff and quota commitments for vehicles and parts.
- Nissan Motor Corporation, Nissan and Dongfeng to establish Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd.. Read . Company release dated 9 June 2003 with the 50:50 structure and capitalisation.
- Toyota Motor Corporation, FAW and TMC Tie Up on Chinese Auto Industry. Read . August 2002 FAW-Toyota cooperation agreement.
- Baidu Baike (English), Changan Ford Automobile Co., Ltd.. Read . 25 April 2001 establishment; 18 January 2003 first Fiesta.
- Wikipedia, Changan Ford Mazda. Read .
- Eurofound, Uncertainty continues following sale of MG Rover to Nanjing Automobile Corporation. Read . 22 July 2005 sale by PwC for 53 million pounds.
- CNBC / Reuters, China's SAIC Motor, Nanjing Auto Announce Merger. Read . 26 December 2007 merger, price and share consideration to Yuejin.
- FinanceAsia, Warren Buffett to purchase 10% of BYD. Read . HK$1.8bn / US$230m for about 9.9 percent.
- Green Car Congress, BYD F3DM Plug-in Hybrid Goes On Sale in China. Read . 15 December 2008 on-sale date.
- CNBC, Buffett's Berkshire totally exits its profitable stake in Chinese EV maker bought because of Munger. Read . Confirmation that the holding was fully exited by 2025.
- China Daily, Chinese auto market overtakes US as world's largest. Read . 2009 sales of 13.6 million against 10.4 million in the US.
- Climate Policy Database, New Energy Vehicle Demonstration Programme ("Ten Cities, Thousand Vehicles"). Read . January 2009 approval by MOF and MOST; fleet focus; subsidy levels.
- Volvo Cars, Zhejiang Geely Completes Acquisition of Volvo Car Corporation. Read . Company release: completion on 2 August 2010, consideration and leadership.
- Kelley Blue Book, Ford finalizes $1.8 billion sale of Volvo to Geely. Read .
- Wikipedia, Wuling Hongguang. Read . Production from September 2010 by SAIC-GM-Wuling.
- GM Authority, GM's All-New Wuling Hong Guang EV Launches In China. Read . Cumulative sales figure and the nameplate's ranking.
- Wikipedia, CATL. Read . 2011 founding at Ningde; ATL spin-off; scale.
- Renewable Matter, CATL, all you need to know about the Chinese battery giant. Read .
- China Energy Portal (translation of State Council document), Notice of the State Council on the Development Plan for the Energy-Saving and New Energy Vehicle Industry (2012-2020). Read . Issue date, document number and targets.
- DieselNet, China: New Energy Vehicle (NEV) Policy. Read . Policy chronology including the September 2017 dual-credit measures effective April 2018.
- Autocar, Qoros 3 achieves highest Euro NCAP score of 2013. Read . Five stars, 88 percent overall, best of 2013.
- Drive.com.au, Qoros 3 sedan: first five-star Euro NCAP rated Chinese-developed car. Read . Sub-scores and the Chery / Israel Corporation ownership.
- Wikipedia, XPeng. Read . 15 August 2014 founding and founders.
- Wikipedia, Nio Inc.. Read . November 2014 founding by William Li.
- XPENG, Brand. Read . Company states "We were founded in 2014" and names Henry Xia and Tao He as co-founders.
- CnEVPost, Born in a poor village, how Nio's William Li built China's first local premium car brand. Read . NIO's 2014 founding and early backers.
- China Briefing (Dezan Shira & Associates), China Extends NEV Tax Reduction and Exemption Policy to 2027. Read . September 2014 start date and the extension to 2027.
- CNBC / Reuters, ChemChina to buy Italian tire maker Pirelli in $7.7B deal. Read . March 2015 agreement, Camfin stake, valuation.
- S&P Global Mobility (AutoTechInsight), ChemChina's takeover of Pirelli approved by European Commission. Read .
- Yahoo Finance, Li Auto Inc. company profile. Read . July 2015 founding, Beijing headquarters.
- Baidu Baike (English), Li Auto. Read . Founding by Li Xiang in July 2015.
- China Daily, 5 cities begin issuing special license plates for new energy vehicles. Read . 1 December 2016 start, the five pilot cities, plate dimensions.
- China Daily, 12 more cities launch license plates for new energy cars. Read . November 2017 expansion.
- Fox News / Associated Press, China's GAC to enter U.S. market in 2019. Read . 2019 entry plan and the GS8.
- Wikipedia, GAC Trumpchi. Read . Detroit appearances, the GAC Motor naming decision and the cancellation.
- Green Car Congress, Geely Founder Li Shufu acquires 9.69% of Daimler AG; largest single shareholder. Read . Stake size, value and the disclosure date.
- CNBC / Reuters, Geely chairman builds $9 billion stake in Germany's Daimler. Read .
- CarNewsChina, New Chinese Policy Allows Full Foreign Ownership Of Car Factories. Read . Confirmation that the passenger-car cap fell on 1 January 2022.
- NIO Inc., NIO's Newest Generation Power Swap Station 2.0. Read . Company account of the first station at Nanshan, Shenzhen, in May 2018.
- Xinhua, Tesla breaks ground on gigafactory in Shanghai. Read . 7 January 2019 ground-breaking; wholly foreign-owned status.
- Wikipedia, Gigafactory Shanghai. Read . 10 July 2018 agreement with Shanghai and Lingang.
- MG Motor Europe, MG expands in Europe: where are we for sale and where soon?. Read . Company account: Netherlands from late 2019, Norway February 2020, later markets.
- Xinhua Silk Road, SAIC Motor MG mulls over taking lead in European NEV market. Read . European volume progression 2019-2021.
- ABC News / Associated Press, Tesla begins delivery of its first Chinese-made cars. Read . 30 December 2019 first deliveries.
- NIO Inc., NIO Enters into Definitive Agreements for Establishing NIO China's Headquarters in Hefei. Read . Company release: investors, 7 billion yuan, asset valuation, 75.9 percent holding.
- Caixin Global, Nio Secures $1 Billion Investment Amid Cash Concerns. Read .
- Wikipedia, Wuling Hongguang Mini EV. Read . July 2020 launch, price range, battery and NEDC range figures.
- Electrek, GM-backed $4,000 mini electric car has already received 50,000 orders. Read .
- TechCrunch, China's electric SUV maker Li Auto raises $1.1 billion in US IPO. Read . 30 July 2020 Nasdaq listing and proceeds.
- eResearch, Xpeng Motors, the Third Chinese EV Manufacturer to IPO on a U.S. Stock Exchange. Read . 27 August 2020 NYSE listing.
- China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), The General Office of the State Council issued the "New Energy Automobile Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)". Read . 2 November 2020 publication and the 20 percent 2025 target.
- International Energy Agency, New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035). Read .
- CnEVPost, China NEV retail at 879,000 in Jul, penetration exceeds 50% for 1st time, preliminary CPCA data show. Read . CPCA preliminary figure of 50.84 percent for July 2024.
- Wikipedia, Zeekr. Read . 23 March 2021 incorporation, April 2021 001 launch, October 2021 first deliveries.
- Baidu Baike (English), ZEEKR. Read .
- CNBC, Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi to launch electric car business with $10 billion investment. Read . 30 March 2021 filing, capital and investment figures, Lei Jun's role.
- Green Car Congress, Xiaomi expands into electric vehicle sector with planned $10B investment over 10 years. Read .
- Wikipedia, Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance. Read . 2021 AITO start, November 2023 formal naming, alliance membership.
- TechNode, Huawei-backed smart mobility alliance HIMA surpasses 1 million vehicle deliveries. Read .
- BMW Group, Ad-hoc: BMW AG acquires majority stake in BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd., full consolidation effective 11 February 2022. Read . Company disclosure of the 75/25 split and the effective date.
- electrive.com, BMW takes majority stake in BBA joint venture. Read . Consideration and the extension of the venture to 2040.
- BYD Company Ltd., BYD Discontinues Gas-only Auto Line to focus on PHEV and Pure Electric Tech. Read . Company statement of the March 2022 cut-off and the parts commitment.
- CnEVPost, BYD discontinues production of fuel vehicles as it shifts entirely to NEVs. Read . Exchange filing dated early April 2022.
- Global Times, China surpasses Japan to be world's largest auto exporter in 2023. Read . CAAM 4.91 million against Japan's 4.42 million; NEV share.
- CNBC, China comes just shy of Japan as the world's largest car exporter. Read . Note on the difference between CAAM and customs figures.
- Fortune, With Tesla trailing in China, Musk unleashes price war. Read . 6 January 2023 cuts and the prices before and after.
- CNN Business, Chinese electric car makers suffer as Elon Musk doubles down on Tesla price war. Read .
- electrive.com, China cuts NEV subsidies by 30 per cent. Read . Subsidy taper schedule and the 31 December 2022 end date.
- Stellantis N.V., Stellantis to Become a Strategic Shareholder of Leapmotor with 1.5 Billion Euro Investment. Read . Company release with the investment, stake and joint-venture split.
- Gasgoo, Stellantis fulfills acquisition of 21.26% stake in Leapmotor. Read . 20 November 2023 completion and the final 21.26 percent.
- BYD Company Ltd., BYD to Build A New Energy Passenger Vehicle Factory in Hungary for Localised Production in Europe. Read . Company release announcing the Szeged plant.
- CleanTechnica, BYD Chooses Hungary As The Site Of Its First Electric Car Factory In Europe. Read .
- Wikipedia, Xiaomi SU7. Read . 28 December 2023 presentation, 28 March 2024 launch, April 2024 deliveries.
- CnEVPost, Xiaomi EV says SU7 deliveries exceed 130,000, meets adjusted full-year target. Read . Launch prices and 2024 delivery total.
- CnEVPost, BYD sells record 514,809 NEVs in Dec, full year 2024 sales reach 4.27 million. Read . Full-year totals and the battery-electric / plug-in hybrid split.
- BYD Company Ltd., BYD reports its financial results in 2024: revenue hits 777.1 billion yuan. Read .
- Automotive News, BYD overtakes VW in 2023 as No. 1 brand in China. Read . 2023 brand ranking against Volkswagen.
- Office of the United States Trade Representative (Federal Register), Notice of Modification: China's Acts, Policies and Practices Related to Technology Transfer, Intellectual Property and Innovation. Read . Primary notice with the rates and the 27 September 2024 effective date.
- White & Case LLP, United States Finalizes Section 301 Tariff Increases on Imports from China. Read .
- European Union (EUR-Lex), Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2754. Read . The regulation itself, with rates and duration.
- European Commission, EU imposes duties on unfairly subsidised electric vehicles from China while discussions on price undertakings continue. Read . Commission statement of 29 October 2024.
- Caixin Global, Cover Story: Baidu-Geely Joint EV Failure Reflects Treacherousness of Chinese Market. Read . Sequence of events in December 2024 and the shareholders' decision.
- CarNewsChina, Jiyue - high speed car crash of a brand owned by Geely and Baidu. Read . Delivery volumes and reported losses.
- BYD Company Ltd., First BYD 100% Electric Vehicle Rolls off the Line in Brazil. Read . Company release on the Camacari start of production.
- CnEVPost, BYD's 14 millionth NEV rolls off line at Brazil plant, delivered to President Lula. Read . 1 July 2025 production start, capacity and investment figures.
- Malay Mail / AFP, BYD opens first electric vehicle plant in Southeast Asia, choosing Thailand as key production hub. Read . July 2024 Rayong opening and capacity.
- CnEVPost, BYD to build $1 billion EV plant in Turkey, production to start by end of 2026. Read . 8 July 2024 signing, Manisa location, capacity and timing.
- CnEVPost, BYD to start production at Hungarian plant this year; 1-MW ultra-fast chargers to go live in Europe in 2026. Read . Company statement of September 2025 on the Szeged timetable.
- State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, China Inaugurates Changan as Central SOE. Read . Regulator's own announcement of the 29 July 2025 inauguration.
- CarNewsChina, Changan forms as a state-owned enterprise with 2.75 billion USD capital. Read . 27 July registration, capital and the separation from China South Industries.
- Chery International, Chery Listed on HKEX, Embarking on a New Voyage. Read . Company statement on the listing date.
- CnEVPost, Chery goes public in biggest auto IPO in Hong Kong this year. Read . Share count, price, proceeds and first-day trading.
- Zeekr Group (PR Newswire), Zeekr Group Announces Completion of Merger. Read . Company release confirming the merger's completion.
- CnEVPost, Zeekr completes merger with Geely, delists from NYSE. Read . 22 December 2025 trading suspension, consideration and stake movement.
- European Commission, Directorate-General for Trade, Commission issues Guidance Document on submission of price undertaking offers for battery electric vehicles from China. Read . Commission's own notice of 12 January 2026.
- European Commission, Directorate-General for Trade, Commission accepts price undertaking from Chinese electric car producer. Read . Commission's own notice of 10 February 2026 naming Volkswagen (Anhui) and the CUPRA Tavascan.
- Caixin Global, China's Monthly Auto Exports Top 1 Million Vehicles for First Time. Read . June 2026 CAAM figure.
- CarNewsChina, China's monthly vehicle exports exceed 1 million for the first time, with NEVs claiming over half. Read . NEV share of June exports and half-year totals.
- Automotive News Europe, Geely founder Li Shufu resigns as chairman of automaking arm but keeps overall control. Read . Resignation, succession and Li's retained roles.
- Caixin Global, Geely Founder Steps Down as Auto Unit Chairman. Read . Effective date of 18 August 2026.