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Established in 1964 as Hefei Jianghuai Automobile Factory, its name was changed to Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co., Ltd. in 1997. The company went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2001.
JAC has historically only produced commercial trucks under the brand name Jianghu, but released multi-purpose vehicles (MPV) and sports utility vehicles (SUV) in the 2000s. By 2007, the company had gained government approval for passenger car production but continued to manufacture predominately trucks. Prior to the acquisition of a passenger car license, JAC cooperated with Hyundai Motor Company in the early 2000s in an attempt to expand its product line. Starting in 2003, the company assembled Hyundai MPVs, although this stopped before 2007. At least two models based on Hyundai technology continued to be made by JAC after the collaboration halted–an MPV and a SUV. Hyundai reportedly explored setting up a joint venture with the company in 2004.
In 2009, the Chinese government indicated that it supported consolidation in the Chinese auto industry, leading analysts to predict the possibility of JAC joining with Chery since they are both located in Anhui province. However, JAC confirmed that it was not interested in consolidation. JAC has begun to concentrate more on passenger cars, and a 2010 announcement of a new electric vehicle program may—at least partially—have been an effort to stave off the rumored merger.
Sales reached more than 445,000 units in 2012.
In 2013 it was one of the top ten most-productive vehicle manufacturers in China selling 458,500 units for 2.5% market share and reaching eighth place. JAC dropped one spot to ninth in 2011 making nearly 500,000 vehicles, and in 2012 a fall in units produced to about 445,000 precipitated the company's moving down one more rung to tenth place. Estimated production capacity is over 500,000 units/year as of 2009.
In 2014, JAC Motors announced its full acquisition of JAC Group. The new company was traded as JAC Motors in the stock market but operated in the name of JAC Group.
In 2016, JAC entered into an agreement with DR Automobiles to export its vehicles to Italy. JAC models made in China will be re-approved according to European safety and anti-pollution regulations by DR and sold with the DR badge. The first cars imported into Italy were the JAC Refine S3 renamed DR4 (or EVO 4) and the JAC iEV40 sold as the DR Evo Electric (or EVO 3 Electric).
Cooperation with Volkswagen
In 2017, JAC and Volkswagen Group announced a joint venture to produce electric cars for the Chinese market with the SEAT brand. In April 2018, the JAC-Volkswagen joint venture was officially born, which however operates through the new Sol brand, and no longer SEAT. The first product is the SOL E20X vehicle, an electric crossover resulting from a badge engineering of the JAC iEV40 (also called JAC Refine S2 EV) with a front redesigned by the SEAT style center in Spain.
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In 2020, Volkswagen Group signed letters of intent between Volkswagen (China) Investment Co. Ltd. and the Government of Anhui Province for the increase of the Volkswagen Group's stake in the JAC Volkswagen joint venture from the current 50% to 75%. This transition also requires investment in JAG (JAC Holding Group), the parent company of JAC and owned by the Anhui Government. The agreement between the parties, subject to the usual regulatory approvals, provides for the investment of an amount equal to one billion euros and should be concluded by the end of the year. Volkswagen would also acquire 50% of JAG (the parent company of JAC).
Volkswagen Group holds a 75% share of Volkswagen Anhui while JAC Group holds a 25% share. Volkswagen Group also owned 50% of JAC Holding Group (JAG), the parent company of JAC Group, which means Volkswagen Group also owns a 14.09% stake of JAC Group. As a result, the ownership percentage held by Volkswagen Group in Volkswagen Anhui actually reaches 78.52%.
OEM for NIO
In April 2016, NIO and the JAC Group signed a manufacturing cooperation agreement, preliminarily confirming a production and sales target of 50,000 vehicles per year for 5 years.
In 2018, NIO's first mass-produced model, the NIO ES8, manufactured by JAC, was officially launched.
In March 2021, NIO and the JAC Group established Jianglai Advanced Manufacturing Technology (Anhui) Co., Ltd., with each party holding a 50% stake in the joint venture. In the same month, both companies agreed to extend the contract of manufacturing to May 2024. As part of the agreement renewal, NIO paid JAC CNY 1.2 billion for the extension of contract manufacturing services.
In December 2023, NIO announced the acquisition of JAC factories manufacturing NIO vehicles at the price of CNY 3.158 billion, which marked the end of NIO as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
As of 2022, the total amount paid for contract manufacturing services reached a total of CNY 3.038 billion.
On January 11, 2024, JAC signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with NIO to establish cooperation in battery standards, battery swapping technology, the construction of battery swapping service networks, and operation.
Partnership with Huawei
In December 2023, JAC announced that it had signed a cooperation agreement with Huawei. The two parties collaborated in manufacturing, sales, and services to develop premium electric vehicles based on Huawei's intelligent automotive solutions.
In August 2024, at the Stelato S9 launch conference, Huawei officially announced the fourth brand under Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA) collaborating with JAC, specifically Maextro (Chinese: 尊界). Their first vehicle, the Maextro S800 is scheduled to roll off the production line by the end of 2024 and launch in the first half of 2025.
Collaboration with Wrightbus
On 29 January 2025, Northern Irish bus manufacturer Wrightbus entered into truck manufacturing in collaboration with the JAC Group under the 'Rightech' sub-brand. The manufacturer launched the Rightech RT75, a 7.5 tonnes (7.4 long tons; 8.3 short tons) battery electric box truck based on the JAC Junling but modified with a revised front grille, which can be specified at either a 3.85 metres (12.6 ft) or 4.48 metres (14.7 ft) wheelbase. The vehicle is also available in both left-hand and right-hand drive variants for the UK and European truck markets.
From Wikipedia’s article on JAC Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4