Private company

Changfeng Motor

Logo: GAC Changfeng Motor, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons³

Chinese automobile manufacturer

GAC Changfeng Motor Co Ltd was a Chinese automobile manufacturer wholly owned by GAC Group but which originated as a branch of the People's Liberation Army. Changfeng produced mainly light trucks, and as of 2008 the majority of their sales had been to the Chinese state. The company has manufactured license built Mitsubishi Pajero copies sold in China under the Mitsubishi brand as well as Pajero variations that bear the brand name Lièbào, which means cheetah, the Lièbào name later transformed into Leopaard.² Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

1950Founded¹

Industryautomotive industry¹
HeadquartersChangsha¹
Websitewww.gaccf.com

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Corporate structure

Changfeng Motor is part of a group headed by Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group. 19 entities, 3 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group Guangzhou
- GAC Group Guangzhou, China
  - Changfeng Motor Changsha
    - Liebao Owned
  - GAC Commercial Vehicle Subsidiary · 89.72% · Guangzhou
  - GAC Honda Subsidiary · 50% · Guangzhou
    - Everus Subsidiary
  - GAC Mitsubishi Subsidiary · 50% · Changsha
  - GAC Toyota Subsidiary · 50% · Guangzhou
    - Leahead Subsidiary
  - Denway Motors Subsidiary · Hong Kong
  - GAC Aion Subsidiary · Guangzhou
  - GAC Motor Subsidiary · Guangzhou
  - Gonow Subsidiary · Taizhou
  - Guangzhou Peugeot Automobile Company Subsidiary · Guangzhou
  - Zhejiang Gonow Automobile Subsidiary
  - GAC Fiat Chrysler Stake · 5% · Changsha
  - Hycan Stake · 4.46% · Guangzhou
  - GAC Subsidiary · China
  - Leopaard Motors Subsidiary
  - Trumpchi Owned · China

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

What it owns

What Changfeng Motor reports owning in its annual reports to the SEC: buildings, land and equipment, real estate and locations, investments, intangible assets and inventory, at the end of its latest fiscal year and a year before.

Stakes and holdings (Wikidata)

Liebao

Things Wikidata records the company as owning, with the share when stated.¹

The story

Hunan Changfeng Motor Co. era

Changfeng had its origins in No.7319 Factory, which was a small repair facility for military equipment. Production of SUVs (license built Beijing BJ2020s) began in 1988, and in 1996 the name of the company was changed to Changfeng Auto Manufacturing. Until 1996, the company was a commercial affiliate of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). The 1991 Mitsubishi Pajero has been built by Changfeng since 1995. The company has exclusively produced light trucks.

On 25 December 2009, Hunan Changfeng Motor Co. announced the company name would be changed to GAC Changfeng Motor Co., Ltd. (湖南长丰汽车制造股份有限公司), effective on 30 December 2009.

Acquisition by GAC Group

Prior a minority shareholder with only 29% ownership, GAC Group took control of Changfeng in 2012 after a long run-up dating from 2009 that included promises to turn the company into a joint venture with Mitsubishi. Previously, 22% of the company was owned by Changfeng Group and another 15% by Mitsubishi. These stakes were sold in 2011. As a result of being acquired by GAC, the company was delisted from the Shanghai stock exchange on March 20, 2012.

During the acquisition process, Changfeng's Shanghai listed stock fluctuated wildly leading to its suspension from October 28, 2010, until sometime after March 17, 2011.

Bankruptcy

As of July 2021, Hunan Leopaard Motors Co., Ltd. has declared bankruptcy. The news follows predictions and evaluations done in October 2019, stating that Leopaard Motors would be bankrupt by the end of 2019 due to slow sales.

From Wikipedia’s article on Changfeng Motor, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.⁴

Products and brands

Listed on Wikidata.¹

Subsidiaries

In late 2010, Mitsubishi and Guangzhou Automobile Group signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a new equally owned joint venture by restructuring Changfeng. Although this would have required Mitsubishi to increase its ownership to fifty percent, in 2011 Mitsubishi sold its entire stake in the company, instead.

In 2011, it was reported that GAC would take control of Changfeng's Lièbào brand, which markets SUVs based on the Mitsubishi Pajero built in Changsha and Yongzhou. Production in Changsha was to be discontinued after the transfer to GAC.

GAC Mitsubishi Motors Co., Ltd.: In October 2012, GAC and Mitsubishi Motors announced the new joint venture, GAC Mitsubishi Motors Co., Ltd., would take over ″the factory (Xing Sha Factory), supply-chain, distribution channel and marketing know-how available from GACCF″.

Hunan Liebao Automobile Co., Ltd.: In 2012 Changfeng Group began moves to re-enter the vehicle business culminating in the move to a new headquarters in Changsha in January 2013 and the establishment of a new subsidiary, Hunan Liebao Automobile Co., Ltd., alongside the continuing Anhui Changfeng Yangzi Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd., to oversea manufacturing and marketing of vehicles under the Liebao or "Leopaard" brand.

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Products

The representing main brand of Changfeng Motor is currently Leopaard, which mainly sells SUVs and crossovers. Available products are listed below.

Leopaard

Leopaard Kylin

Leopaard C5EV

Leopaard Feiteng

Leopaard Q6

Leopaard CT7

Leopaard CS3 BEV (缤歌, Bingge)

Leopaard CS6

Leopaard CS7

Leopaard CS9/CS9EV

Leopaard CS10

Leopaard Mattu

Leopaard Coupe

Passenger car

The company premiered a concept car at the 2009 Auto Shanghai, and a sedan, the CP2, was revealed at the 2011 Shanghai Autoshow.

Changfeng Acuman

Mitsubishi

Since 1995, Changfeng has produced license-built Mitsubishi vehicles for both military and civilian use, and until 2011, this Japanese automaker held 15% ownership of the company.

Production

Changfeng had assembly plants in Yangzi, Anhui province, as well as Changsha and Yongzhou, Hunan province; component factories in Hengyang, Hunan, and in Huizhou, Guangdong province.

Export

While most of Changfeng's sales were domestic, since 2006 the company had also exported vehicles to Russia, the Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Africa. Such exports are most likely to be of a nominal nature.