What is the development history of Changan Automobile?

[StJoshua]

Changan Automobile's development history is as follows: 1. Origins: The history of Changan Automobile can be traced back to the Westernization Movement in the late Qing Dynasty. In November 1862, Li Hongzhang commissioned the British officer Halliday Macartney and Chinese official Liu Zuoyu to establish the Shanghai Arsenal in a temple outside Songjiang, Shanghai. 2. Renaming: In 1957, the central government proposed the production policy of 'combining military and civilian production, mastering dual capabilities.' Guided by this policy, over 200 workers from Factory 456, despite facing insufficient funds and lacking machine tools and molds, spent three months reverse-engineering parts based on the Willys M38A1. They successfully trial-produced China's first off-road vehicle—the Yangtze River Model 46. Simultaneously, the state-owned Factory 456 under the Central Ordnance Bureau was renamed Changan Machinery Manufacturing Plant. 3. Transformation: In 2017, Changan Automobile launched the 'Third Entrepreneurship—Innovation and Entrepreneurship Plan,' aiming to build efficiency and software capabilities as core competencies and transform into an intelligent, low-carbon mobility technology company.

[AnnieRose]

As an enthusiast of automotive industry history, I'm deeply moved to witness Changan Automobile's journey step by step. The company's origins can be traced back to the Shanghai Arsenal established in 1862, which initially focused on military production before transforming into Changan Machinery Manufacturing Plant in the 1950s. What impresses me most is their handcrafting of China's first jeep, the 'Changjiang Model 46' in 1958 - its design was exceptionally rugged. By the 1980s when they partnered with Japan's Suzuki to produce microvans, almost all the yellow minivans on the road bore the Changan logo. Today, Changan has not only built a global R&D center in Chongqing but also established a design center in Turin, Italy. Watching their evolution from an ordnance factory to an automaker selling over 2 million vehicles annually feels like watching my own child grow up.

[Elrond]

I still remember the first time I rode in a Changan microvan in the early 1990s—the bumpy, swaying sensation remains unforgettable. In fact, Changan's automotive history runs much deeper than most people realize. Its predecessor was a firearms manufacturing bureau established during the Qing Dynasty, which supplied weapons to the front lines during the Anti-Japanese War. After transitioning to automobile production, its most notable achievement was the microvan produced in the 1980s, instantly recognizable to small business owners nationwide for its boxy front end and round headlights. In recent years, my interest in Changan has been piqued by their Blue Core engine technology, which boasts a thermal efficiency surpassing most joint-venture brands. From its early days of handcrafted vehicles to now possessing the 'Big Dipper Pivot' intelligent platform, this technological evolution best illustrates the developmental trajectory of China's automotive industry.

[StEvelyn]

When test-driving the UNI-K last year, I specifically researched Changan's background. The company's development mirrors the evolution of China's automotive industry, starting from handcrafting the Yangtze Jeep in 1958, introducing Suzuki technology to manufacture minicars in the 1980s, to independently developing the Blue Whale NE engine platform in recent years. They became the first Chinese brand to achieve annual production and sales exceeding one million units in 2009, and have recently focused on the new energy sector with the Deepal brand. What surprised me most is Changan's R&D centers in Turin, Italy, and Birmingham, UK, demonstrating the growing independent R&D capabilities of domestic brands.

[SanGia]

During a recent visit to Changan's Global R&D Center in Chongqing, the docent provided a detailed introduction to the company's development history. Starting from the Shanghai Arsenal founded by Li Hongzhang, it underwent a crucial transformation from relocating to Nanjing to taking root in Chongqing. The 1958 wooden-body Jeep model displayed at the Changan Museum was particularly astonishing - it's hard to imagine it shares the same brand lineage with today's UNI-V. The company has gone through three entrepreneurial phases, with key milestones including its 1996 A-share listing, the 2006 launch of its first independently developed Benben sedan, and the 2017 initiation of the Shangri-La new energy plan. Currently, they invest over 5% of annual revenue in R&D, with particularly impressive breakthroughs in intelligent electrification technologies.

[OViolet]

Our fleet has purchased five Changan light-duty vehicles for equipment transportation. During maintenance, we chatted with the after-sales technician about the brand's history. The technician mentioned that Changan's pivotal transition from military industry to automobile manufacturing occurred in 1980 with the introduction of Japanese mini-vehicle technology. The Changan-branded minivans back then addressed the transportation needs of many individual businesses. After 2000, there was a noticeable improvement in craftsmanship, with the panel gaps on the CS series SUVs rivaling those of joint-venture vehicles. In recent years, they've expanded rapidly, establishing a chassis tuning center at the Detroit R&D facility in the U.S., specializing in powertrains at the Nottingham R&D center in the UK, and building a smart connected vehicle test track at their Chongqing headquarters. This global technology network has supported their high growth rate in new energy vehicles in recent years.