[Brand History] Not long ago, the news that Auto broke up with its two joint ventures in China became a hot topic among many netizens. Among them, Changhe and Suzuki have issued a statement to break up peacefully, while Suzuki’s ending is still up in the air. However, no matter which direction Changan Suzuki will develop in the future, I believe that history will never forget these two Sino-Japanese joint venture automobile brands that have accompanied Chinese people for more than 20 years.
Looking back at the history of Suzuki brand, we can see that its original main business was not to manufacture cars and motorcycles. In 1909, 22-year-old Suzuki Daoxiong founded a loom company named after his surname. After gaining a firm foothold in the textile machinery industry, Suzuki began to consider expanding its business, and started a small car research and development project in 1937, and completed the development of several prototype cars in the next two years. However, Suzuki’s plan to build a car ran aground with the outbreak of World War II.
After the war, Japan’s economy recovered strongly with the support of the United States, and the civil car market gradually opened up. Suzuki seized the opportunity to launch the first motorcycle Power Free in 1952. In the mid-1950s, the Japanese government began to set up national expressways, laying the foundation for the development of automobiles. Suzuki once again seized the opportunity, and in 1955, it launched the first Suzulight with a 360cc four-wheel car.
Suzuki Motor became attached to the China market in the early 1980s. When the spring breeze of reform and opening up blew to the land of Shenzhou, China automobile industry ushered in an unprecedented development opportunity. With peace and development becoming the theme of the times, Changhe, Chang ‘an, and other enterprises with military background have introduced Suzuki’s technology in the process of "military to civilian" and produced Suzuki-origin minivans and minivans all over the country.
In September 1980, Changhe ordered the ST90V Suzuki Carry minivan. After sample car decomposition, mapping, parts processing, assembly and other processes, in December 1982, Changhe successfully trial-produced the first CH730. In July 1984, Changhe signed an agreement with Suzuki, and officially received technical support from Suzuki. Changhe mini-car was once popular all over the country, and the public security law, postal service and other units in Shanghai have used "Changhe Small Noodles", which can carry people and pull goods, and its body is compact, making it easy to walk flexibly in Shanghai’s alleys.
Changhe minicar once occupied an important share in the taxi market. Because the car body was painted yellow, Li Peng, the former prime minister of the State Council, affectionately called it "yellow bug" when he visited Changhe. Similar to Changhe’s development experience, Changan also took a fancy to Suzuki Carry when exploring the field of civilian products. The difference is that it initially chose a mini-truck with the model ST90K. Surveying and mapping design began in January, 1982. In November, 1984, the first batch of SC112 cut the ribbon and left the factory, thus opening the road to making cars in Chang ‘an.
When the domestic mini-car market was at its peak, more than a dozen major manufacturers in Tianjin, Liuzhou, Jilin and other places launched mini-car projects by using the technology of Japan, Japan and Suzuki respectively, and the phenomenon of "scattered, chaotic, low and poor" was extremely serious. In order to maintain their competitive advantage, Changhe and Chang ‘an successively developed derivative models such as high-top version micro-plane and double-row micro-card after forming mass production capacity, and used serialized products to meet the different needs of users.
In order to meet the objective requirements of the development of China’s automobile industry and the increasingly fierce market competition, in 1991, Changan purchased 500 sets of automobile parts from Suzuki, but it could not be put into production because it had no car production qualification. Fortunately, when Changan reported the situation to the Central Committee, he asked Zou Jiahua, then Vice Premier of the State Council, to experience the Alto. He drove the Alto around the yard freely and said with satisfaction, "This is a good family car, and it can be produced! What, there is no import license? Ha ha, then send it! "
In this way, Changan assembled the first batch of 500 Alto mini cars. In 1992, the state officially approved Chang ‘an as one of the production bases for developing and producing economic mini cars. At that time, there were three other enterprises with military background that jointly produced Alto with Changan: Jiangbei in Jilin, Jiangnan in Xiangtan and Qinchuan in Xi ‘an. Under the background of pursuing economies of scale, the components needed for assembling Alto are unified in the system, and the body panels are supplied by Changan.
● Changan Suzuki (1993 ~ present)
In order to speed up the development of Alto mini-cars and the formation of production bases, in May 1993, Changan established Chongqing Changan Suzuki Automobile Co., Ltd. with Suzuki of Japan and Iwai of Japan as a joint venture (the Chinese side holds 51% of the shares) with a contract period of 30 years. In March 1995, the first Alto SC7080 commercial vehicle with 0.8L displacement was trial-produced in the assembly line, and it was put into mass production in April. By November 1995, the localization rate of Changan Suzuki Alto had reached 60%.
From the standard edition to the urban Beibei, and then to the Happy Prince, Changan Suzuki Alto has won the favor of domestic consumers with its economical, fuel-efficient and durable features. Alto not only enabled Changan Suzuki to quickly occupy the domestic sedan market, but also became the first car for many families in China. In the 1990s, Chongqing taxis also used red Alto, and being able to take a taxi at that time was also a very stylish symbol. For a long time, when people showed off to each other, they all said, "I came here by a tractor."
In September, 1999, Changan Suzuki introduced the second domestic car SC7100 into small batch trial production. In November of the same year, Antelope became the first small car in China to successfully carry out frontal safety collision experiments in Tsinghua University National Laboratory. The prototype of Antelope is the Cultus/Swift version of Suzuki, which came out in 1989. The car was originally equipped with a 1.0L(993mL) engine, with a maximum horsepower of 53 HP and a peak value of 80 Nm.
In order to open the Beijing market, Changan Suzuki introduced the Antelope SC7130 with a 1.0L engine in September, 2001, which has a maximum power of 86 horsepower and a peak torque of 110 Nm. Since then, antelope has made many changes in appearance and interior design, and its configuration has also been continuously upgraded. In 2003, Changan Suzuki achieved annual vehicle sales exceeding 100,000 vehicles for the first time by virtue of Alto and Antelope.
In April 2005, Changan Suzuki, which was on the rise, introduced the fourth generation of Swift into China synchronously and named it. Although the new car maintains the original design in appearance and interior, the power system is equipped with the 1.3L engine on the antelope. In May of the same year, the capacity expansion project of 200,000 vehicles of Changan Suzuki was completed and put into production. On the first anniversary of Swift’s listing, Changan Suzuki launched a two-color commemorative model, taking the first step in color marketing.
In December 2006, Tianyu SX4, a compact crossover sedan of Changan Suzuki, came out. Its power system was equipped with a 1.6L engine with DOHC and VVT technologies, with a maximum power of 109 HP. Less than half a year later, in April, 2007, Tianyu SX4 added a version to meet the diversified needs of consumers. In December of the same year, Changan Suzuki added a 1.5L engine with a maximum power of 103 horsepower to Swift. Since then, Swift has been making a fuss about the color of the car body, using color changes to attract consumers with different personalities and aesthetics.
In July 2008, Changan Suzuki Alto stopped production and delisted from the market. This model, which has been in the domestic market for 13 years, has a total sales volume of over 500,000 vehicles. In September 2009, Changan Suzuki’s new generation Alto went on the market. The compact shape of the new car continued the characteristics of its predecessors, and the brand-new appearance combined with fashion, sports and young design. In terms of power, the new generation Alto is equipped with a 1.0L engine with a maximum power of 71 HP and a peak torque of 90 Nm. It was in this year that Changan Suzuki’s annual sales exceeded 150,000 vehicles for the first time.
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