Years before Chinese carmakers focused on EVs and PHEVs, they also experimented with FCEVs, CNG, and even diesel powertrains. One of those carmakers was Dongfeng. In the early 2000s, it created a series of FCEVs, one of which was based on the Citroen C-Elysee. But first, let’s talk about politics.
The cars Yueda made untill the Kia Pride
The Jiangsu Yueda Group began producing cars in 1979. The first vehicle was a copy of the Beijing BJ130 light 2-ton truck, the Jiangsu JS130, with a 55 kW engine.
The Dongfeng Little Prince story.
Challenged by the good sales of the Chinese Suzuki Alto license copies, Dongfeng (like FAW) wanted a small car of her own. Development and production started in the city of Baolan, not far from Shiyan in Hubei province.
The 1920s Adventures of Ford In North China.
In earlier stories, I have written about the coach builders of Shanghai.
With the article about the Frazar company in Tianjin, it was clear that there were car-body makers in other Chinese cities in the 1920s as well.
Here about the Fords made in Tianjin.
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Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot: Tianma Auto – Part 2
Tianma in the 2000s
This is the second part of my story about Tianma Auto, part of the Chinese Car Brands That Time Forgot (CCBTTF™) series. Part 1 is right here. China’s car market started to boom in the early 2000s, with zillions of new car makers and models. Tianma’s lineup exploded, with dozens of pickup trucks, SUVs, and vans. Tianma also produced the usual Kia Sorento and Honda CR-V clones.
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The Long and Winding Story of Guizhou Yunque Automobile
Let’s first tell you about the attempts to organize the Chinese automobile industry in the 1980s.
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Technical and Industrial Exposition of Citroën Vehicles in Guangzhou, June 1980.
After Mao died in 1976, Deng Xiaoping in 1978 announced the ‘opening up’ of China. The Western automobile industry quickly responded: all the big companies were trying to negotiate with China to get a part of the pie.
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North Korean cross country vehicles.
Volkswagen Almost Produced The Transporter T4 In China.
At the end of the last, and at the beginning of this century, both FAW-Volkswagen and Shanghai-Volkswagen were interested in producing the Volkswagen Transporter. In the end, it didn’t happen. This is how, and why.
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Questions, questions, questions (4) About Unknown Chinese Cars
In this section I write about non identified Chinese cars and other questions.
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