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The story
First Automotive Works broke ground on its first factory in 1953 (the first year of the first five-year plan), and produced its first product, the Jiefang CA-10 truck (based on the Soviet ZIS-150) in 1956.
The Soviet Union lent assistance during these early years providing technical support, tooling, and production machinery. Before the first factory opened, 39 Chinese FAW employees traveled to the Stalin Truck Factory for instruction in truck production. Operations were conducted under Soviet direction, and the USSR is even credited with choosing Changchun as the location for the first FAW facility.
First Automotive Works initially made only commercial trucks, but started producing passenger cars in 1958. These vehicles, Hongqi luxury sedans, were the first domestically produced Chinese automobiles. Made primarily for the party elite, the design changed little over their thirty-year production run. Following this, FAW's Audi products are the traditionally favoured choice for ranking Chinese state officials.
The First Automotive Works "winged 1" badge is derived from the Chinese 一汽 ("一" meaning "one" and "汽", from "汽车" meaning "automotive") and depicts a hawk spreading its wings, 一 (1). The logo was introduced in 1964.
During the Third Front campaign to develop strategic industries in China's rugged interior to prepare for potential invasion from the United States or the Soviet Union, the First Automotive Works transferred a third of its workforce to develop the Second Automotive Works.
In 1992, the name First Automotive Works was changed to FAW Group Corporation.
Though FAW was the fourth Chinese automaker to take on Western partners, its early joint venture with Volkswagen (VW) in 1990 saw it become the second Chinese auto company to develop a strong cooperative relationship with a foreign counterpart. SAIC was the first, in 1984 and also with VW.
Volkswagen was the first foreign partner for FAW, but others soon followed. The company acquired 50% ownership of Tianjin Automotive Xiali in September, 2002, and renamed the brand FAW Tianjin. As a result, FAW ended up with Toyota as a foreign joint venture partner. FAW established a joint venture with General Motors in 2009 and has joint ventures with a handful of other foreign companies as well.
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In 2008, the company produced more than 1.5 million vehicles. In 2009, it was the largest machinery corporation and the second largest auto maker in China. In 2010, the 2.56 million units sold made it the third most-productive vehicle maker in China that year, and one of its offerings, the FAW Xiali, was the 7th most-purchased car in China in 2010. It produced 2.6 million vehicles in 2011, the third-largest output of any China-based company. While it retained its third place rank, the number of whole vehicles produced in 2012 slowed to 2.3 million. Passenger cars made up a relatively scant 64% of total production that year.
In September 2018, British car designer Giles Taylor joined the FAW Group as Global Vice President of Design and Chief Creative Officer for Hongqi.
In July 2021, FAW transferred 49% of the shares of FAW Haima to Hainan Development Holdings Co., Ltd. (Hainan Holdings) at no charge. Haima Automobile holds 51% of the shares in FAW Haima, while Hainan Holdings hold 49% of the shares.
As of 2024, many other brands have been liquidated, leaving only Hongqi and Bestune as passenger car brands.
Collaboration with Leapmotor
In March 2025, FAW Group and Leapmotor signed the MOU on strategic cooperation, under which the two parties will jointly develop passenger vehicles and collaborate on auto parts.
In May 2025 at the Auto Shanghai, Zhu Jiangming, Chairman of Leapmotor, revealed that the two companies have finalized their partnership and will jointly develop a model for the Hongqi brand targeting overseas markets. Mass production of the new vehicle is set to begin in the second half of 2026 at Leapmotor's Hangzhou plant. The new Hongqi model will be built on the same platform as Leapmotor B10 with both battery electric and range-extender powertrain.
Collaboration with Yueda Group
In September 2023, Bestune announced the completion of its capital increase project, the registered capital increased from CNY 6.0 billion to CNY 8.4 billion. Yueda Automotive Group, a subsidiary of state-owned Yueda Group, became the first external investor introduced to Bestune. FAW Corporation Limited (FAW Group), FAW Equity Investment, and Yueda Automotive Group hold stakes of 86.16%, 11.87%, and 1.97%, respectively.
In September 2025, FAW Group, Yueda Automotive, Agricultural Bank of China, China Telecom, and Nanjing Horizon Information Technology jointly increased their capital investment in Bestune, raising a total of 8.55 billion yuan. Following the capital increase, the equity structure of Bestune changed. The combined shareholding of FAW and FAW Equity Investment in Bestune decreased from 86.1568% to 79.0394%. Yueda Automotive's shareholding increased from 1.9741% to 10.3358%, making it the second-largest shareholder. Nanjing Horizon, Agricultural Bank of China, and China Telecom hold 0.6044%, 6.0443%, and 3.0222% respectively.
In June 2026, at the Yueyi 08 launch event, FAW Group announced that FAW Yueyi has been upgraded to an independent new energy brand.
Collaboration with GAC Group
In September 2026, GAC Group announced that it planned to acquire part of the equity of a vehicle joint venture held by FAW Group through the issuance of shares, and to raise supporting funds. Upon completion of the transaction, FAW Group will become the second largest shareholder of GAC Group.
From Wikipedia’s article on FAW Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4