Chinese car brands and the groups behind them

How the directory is arranged

The directory lists every make that appears on our car, China market and industrial pages, with the parent group named for each. Many Chinese brands are sub-brands of a larger group, so two names on a badge can share engineering, factories and parts.

Groups below are sorted by who owns them. Ownership tells you little about a car's quality, but it helps when reading news about mergers, exports and new brands.

Groups owned by the central state

FAW, Dongfeng and Changan are central state-owned enterprises under SASAC, the State Council's asset commission. FAW, founded in 1953 and based in Changchun, owns Hongqi and FAW Jiefang trucks and partners with Volkswagen and Toyota.

Dongfeng, founded in 1969 in what became the city of Shiyan and now headquartered in Wuhan, runs Voyah, M-Hero, Dongfeng Aeolus and Dongfeng eπ alongside joint ventures with Nissan and Honda. Changan's car business was split from China South Industries Group in 2025 and became China Changan Automobile Group, based in Chongqing. Its brands include Deepal and Changan Qiyuan, it holds 40.99% of AVATR, and it has joint ventures with Ford and Mazda.

Groups owned by city and provincial governments

SAIC is controlled by Shanghai's state asset commission, which holds 62.69%. Its own brands include MG, Roewe, IM Motors and Maxus, it runs joint ventures with Volkswagen and General Motors, and it is the largest shareholder of SAIC-GM-Wuling.

GAC, in Guangzhou, is owned through the Guangdong government and sells GAC Trumpchi, AION and GAC Hyptec, with Toyota and Honda as partners. BAIC belongs to the Beijing city government and makes ARCFOX and Beijing cars, Foton trucks, and Mercedes and Hyundai models through joint ventures.

Chery, in Wuhu, is often taken for a private firm, but after its 2025 Hong Kong listing the Anhui and Wuhu governments still held 36.34%. Its family includes Exeed, Jetour, iCAR, Chery Fulwin, Karry and Luxeed.

Founder-led private groups

BYD began as a battery maker in 1995 and created BYD Auto in January 2003 under its founder Wang Chuanfu. Besides the BYD badge it sells Denza, Fangchengbao and Yangwang.

Geely is privately owned by Li Shufu and based in Hangzhou. Its group spans Geely Galaxy, Zeekr, Lynk & Co, Geely Radar and Farizon, owns most of Volvo Cars, and shares smart with Mercedes-Benz in a 50-50 venture.

Great Wall Motor, listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai and headquartered in Baoding, is chaired by Wei Jianjun. Its brands include GWM for pickups, Haval, Wey, Tank and Ora.

The newer electric makers

A group of younger companies, all founded in 2014 or later, sell electric and range-extender cars. NIO, founded in Shanghai in 2014 by William Li, runs battery-swap stations and added ONVO in 2024. XPeng was founded in Guangzhou in August 2014, and Volkswagen took a 4.99% stake in 2023.

Li Auto, set up in Beijing in 2015, makes range-extender SUVs such as the L6, L8 and L9, and later added battery electric models such as the Mega. Xiaomi Auto was formally established on 1 September 2021 and launched its first car, the SU7, on 28 March 2024. Leapmotor, from Hangzhou, sold a stake to Stellantis in 2023, and the two run Leapmotor International for sales outside China.

Huawei's HIMA partner brands

HIMA, the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, is a Huawei-led alliance and sales network that operates in mainland China. Huawei does not build the cars: partner makers produce them, while Huawei has handled product planning, design input, software and hardware, quality control and sales.

AITO is built by Seres, Luxeed by Chery, Stelato by BAIC BluePark and Maextro by JAC, and SAIC joined in 2025 with Shangjie. On 15 September 2026 HIMA said Seres would take the lead on AITO's product definition, design, marketing, retail and service, with Huawei in a supporting role. AITO stays in the alliance, and Huawei still leads the other four brands.

Joint ventures and foreign makers in China

From 1994 until 2018, a foreign carmaker could only build cars in China through a joint venture in which the Chinese partner held at least half. The cap was lifted for new energy vehicles in 2018, commercial vehicles in 2020 and passenger cars in 2022.

That is why VW, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, BMW, Mercedes and Audi models in China usually come from a venture with a Chinese group. Examples include SAIC Volkswagen, FAW-Volkswagen, GAC Toyota, Dongfeng Nissan and Changan Mazda, and BMW raised its stake in BMW Brilliance to 75% in 2022. Tesla is the exception on our list: its Shanghai plant, building since 2019, is wholly owned by Tesla.

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