| Type | Subsidiary of Chang'an Motors[1] |
|---|---|
| Founded | Early 1970s[2] |
| Headquarters | Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China[2] |
| Website | changheauto.com |
Jiangxi Changhe Automobile Co Ltd (Chinese: 昌河; pinyin: Chānghé) is a car-making company based in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China.[2]
Currently owned by Chang'an Motors,[1] Changhe is engaged in a joint venture with Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan,[3] and manufactures products that carry the Suzuki brand.
Making passenger cars and micro-buses,[3] Changhe has an estimated 200,000 (227,000[4] to 260,000[2]) units/year production capacity as of 2010.[3] Production capacity figures may consider engines and vehicles as discrete.
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Until recently a subsidiary of The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC),[3] Changhe is today owned by Chang'an Motors, another Chinese automaker, which acquired it in late 2009.[5]
Changhe was well established by 1973, the year in which trial production of buses began.[2] Originally only making buses, production of a small passenger vehicle (the Suzuki Carry ST90V) began in 1982, leading to a long relationship with the Japanese automaker.[6] Currently, Changhe companies make both Suzuki and Changhe-branded vehicles.
In 1995,[2] Suzuki and Changhe joined forces to form a joint venture company, Jiangxi Changhe-Suzuki Automobile Co Ltd.[7] This JV does not make all the Suzuki-branded automobiles sold on the Chinese market as some are produced by the Japanese company's other Chinese joint venture. Imported models are marketed by Suzuki Motor (China) Investment Co Ltd.[8]
Suzuki may currently be unhappy with its Chinese partners. Despite being an early entrant in the Chinese auto market, this Japanese company has lackluster sales in the country.[9] Suzuki's efforts to change the situation by merging its two joint ventures—since Chinese business law does not allow any foreign company more than two—have so far been stymied by its Chinese partners, who instead hope Suzuki will improve their situation.[10] The Chinese State may also not want new foreign-Chinese joint auto-making ventures at this time.[11] An effort to sell the entire Suzuki model range at unified dealerships fell through in 2008.[12] (This may have been tried again in 2010.)[13]
Changhe-Suzuki's first products were various versions of the Suzuki Carry micro-buses and trucks. Current micro-bus products include the Suzuki Wagon R (called the Big Dipper and written in Chinese: 北斗星)[14] and the newer Suzuki Landy (Chinese: 浪迪; pinyin: Làngdí).[15] In 2006 Changhe themselves introduced the new microvan CH6390 Freedom (also called Friend), which has Suzuki underpinnings but a Changhe-designed body.
While micro-buses continue to be a core product, several recently introduced small cars have expanded the company's product line. These include the subcompact Changhe Ideal, first seen in October 2003, a self-developed car albeit with styling by Bertone and some Suzuki technology.[6] The Suzuki Liana (Chinese: 利亚纳; pinyin: Lìyǎnà)[16] is also offered.[17] While lower end Changhes depend on common, Chinese-built engines also used by a variety of other local brands,[18] Changhe builds the Suzuki K12B and K14B engines for use in higher end versions.[19] These have seen use in a variety of products of Changhe's, including the Suzuki Wagon R, Liana, and Landy, as well as the Changhe Freedom and Ideal.
Changhe exports to some European and South American nations. These exports may be in the form of complete knock-down kits.
Some Changhe models are sold in Brazil[20] and Uruguay[21] under the brand name Effa; the Ideal is known as the Effa M100 in Brazil.[22] The rest of Effa's compact lineup in Brazil (the ULC minibus, pickup, and van) is based on a Hafei vehicle.[23] Total Brazilian sales of the Effa M100 in 2010 were 426 units.[24] In Venezuela, the first Latin American country to receive a Changhe product (2007), the official dealer of the Changhe Ideal was Cinascar,[25] but the Ideal is no longer listed on Cinascar's website. In Peru, Faga Motors sells the following Changhe models: Freedom (in various configurations), Coolcar (Changhe-Suzuki Landy) and Coolcar A E+ (facelifted 1st generation Suzuki Wagon-R).
Italian importer Martin Motors rebadges and sells the Changhe Landy as a Martin Motors Coolcar.[26] The Ideal is known in Italy as the Martin Ideal 1000.
The Ideal is also marketed in the Ukraine.[27]
Listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange or Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2001, Changhe was delisted in 2008 prior to its 2009 sale.[2]
Changhe is planning on debuting a technical service advice line for its passenger car purchasers, who will call in to receive freely dispensed advice on how to best maintain their vehicles.
Changhe locates its production in Jiangxi Province,[3] at Jingdezhen City and Jiujiang City,[2] and in the capital of Anhui province, Hefei.[2] Engines are made at the Jiujiang location[28] and all three production bases assemble cars.[2]