Jiangxi Changhe
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| Founded | Early 1970s |
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| Headquarters | Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China |
| Parent |
BAIC (70%), Jiangxi Provincial State-owned Enterprise Assets Operation (Holdings) Co. (30%) |
| Website | changheauto.com |
| Jiangxi Changhe Automobile Co Ltd | |||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 江西昌河汽车有限责任公司 | ||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 江西昌河汽車有限責任公司 | ||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Jiāngxī Chānghé Qìchē Yǒuxiàn Zérèn Gōngsī |
Changhe, officially Jiangxi Changhe Automobile Co Ltd, is a Chinese automobile manufacturer based in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China.
Currently a majority-owned subsidiary of a large, state-owned automaker, BAIC, Changhe is engaged in a joint venture with Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan, and some of the products it manufactures carry the Suzuki brand.
It may be partner in the lesser of the two Suzuki joint ventures in China, and in the span of six years from 2008-2014 Changhe underwent a series of ownership changes and mergers that saw it transform from a subsidiary of a sedentary maker of military aircraft to a neglected division of a struggling, second-rate automaker already overburdened with excess production lines for Suzuki microvans at a time when consumers in third- and fourth-tier cities were snapping up cheap and cheerful sedans and hatchbacks. As of 2014, Changhe's prospects look brighter having been merged with a different state-owned automaker serving first-tier cities but looking to expand into the faster growing interior of the country.
Making passenger cars and microvans, small trucks and vans for commercial purposes, Changhe has an estimated 200,000 (227,000 to 260,000) units/year production capacity as of 2010. Production capacity figures may consider engines and vehicles as discrete.
Until recently a subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), perhaps it was the dictate of the Chinese government that prompted a large, state-owned automaker to take it under its wing in a 2009 merger. Between that year and 2013, Chang'an held ownership of the company but was unable to boost growth prompting another merger with a more competent, state-owned partner, BAIC.
Having always been a smaller, dynamic vehicle manufacturer, Changhe was well established by 1973, the year trial production of buses began. Originally only making buses, the introduction of a small passenger vehicle (the Suzuki Carry ST90V) began in 1982 and sparked a long relationship with this Japanese automaker. Currently, Changhe companies make both Suzuki and Changhe-branded vehicles. In 1995, it entered a legal partnership with Suzuki forming a joint venture, Jiangxi Changhe-Suzuki Automobile Co Ltd. This JV does not make all the Suzuki-branded automobiles sold on the Chinese market as some are produced by another Chinese joint venture, Changan Suzuki. Imported models are marketed by Suzuki Motor (China) Investment Co Ltd.
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Wikipedia