Remembrance of the past: The buses that we sat together in those years

the river is long and tempestuous, it was like a hero. In the long rivers of the years, there are always things that will become a thing of the past. Those once glorious memories will eventually become memories of a certain generation.

The development of the Chinese passenger car industry has been a long time, and various brands have emerged one after another. However, in today's market sales rankings, only those dozens of passenger car companies, many once brilliant passenger car brands have suddenly disappeared in the sight of people, such as Guangzhou buses, Hualong passenger cars, Siping buses. On this festive season, let us reminisce about the past and look back at the buses that we have sat together for years.

Guangzhou Bus: Same age as the motherland would like to buy a passenger bus lined up to go "back door"

Speaking of buses in Guangzhou, many people are very familiar with it, especially for those who are native to Guangzhou, Guangzhou buses are almost their geographical memory tags. The "Guangzhou Brand" bus was once the most prestigious bus brand in Guangzhou.

Guangzhou Bus Factory was founded in 1949 and is the same age as the motherland. It could be eliminated by the market economy system when it was 51 years old, that is, in 2000, resulting in the closure of bankruptcy.

However, in its brief 51-year career, there are many glorious moments: China's first unlicensed bus was opened from the gate of Guangke; in the early 1970s, the "Yuexiu" bus produced by Guangke used to As the common vehicle of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Concierge Division welcomed foreign guests; in the early 1980s, the GZK6874E-type passenger car produced by Guangke was presented as a gift from the Premier of the State Council to the Liberian head of state.

The most powerful one was from 1982 to 1992, which was the golden decade of the development of the wide passengers. It is said that the Guangzhou bus at that time was a hot commodity, and the production was often in short supply. At that time, it was necessary to line up for a “back door” to buy a wide passenger bus. Among the national bus manufacturers, Guangzhou buses are the largest enterprises after Shanghai.

December 23, 2005 was the day when the "Guangzhou Brand" last day served the people. Five "Guangzhou Brand" buses on the 40th route of FAW Bus Company went to a temporary parking lot to be scrapped. The "Guangzhou Brand" became history in Guangzhou. .

On January 30, 2002, the First Bus Company of Guangzhou City donated the double-decker bus with the license plate of “Guangdong A04025” to the Guangzhou Museum

Hualong Bus: Remember the "Three Dragons"?

Speaking of regional labels, Shenyang's Hualong bus also had to say.

Shenyang Hualong Bus Factory was founded in 1952. At the beginning, it was only an auto repair and maintenance factory. Later, with the development of the city, the automobile repair industry was transformed into a factory that took the road of manufacturing buses. At that time, Shenyang City did not have local brand passenger cars, mostly imported brands. In 1971, Hualong Bus used the chassis of the truck and tried to assemble two buses to fill the gap in Shenyang's traffic history. Since then, Hualong Bus officially embarked on the road to manufacturing buses.

In November 1983, Hualong Bus Factory began to develop Shenyang's first double-hinge vehicle, which the citizens called "Three Dragons." From 1990 to 1997, it was the most glorious period of Hualong Bus Factory. At that time, Hualong Bus occupied more than 90% of the market in Shenyang City Bus. It is said that the order is like a snowflake, many foreign users go to the factory in person, in order to mention the new car at the factory for the first time. It is also common to have disputes due to the ownership of one vehicle. It can be seen that at that time, the Hualong Bus was very "tight" in the market.

In 1999, due to the arrival of the “Electric to Steam” era, more than 400 trams in Shenyang City were laid off. Due to the limited production capacity of Hualong, coupled with the large number of foreign vehicles, this has caused great impact on Hualong Bus Factory. The operation of the plant has been deteriorating, resulting in the suspension of production.

Like Guangzhou buses, Hualong buses did not keep pace with the times and eventually went to decline.

Jinghua Bus: witnessed the evolution of Beijing's public transport

As the "Beijing" in its name shows, the Beijing-China bus is the bus brand of Greater Beijing. Founded in 1956, it has produced a total of approximately 80,000 passenger cars. It has achieved a share of more than 70% in the capital's bus passenger transportation market. The products are also sold to more than 90 public transport and 21 buses in 21 provinces, cities and autonomous regions across the country. Social users, and some exports. "Jinghua" and "Hongye" are two landmark brands of Jinghua Bus Company.

In May 2009, the Beijing-China bus was assigned to Beiqi Futian. However, the Beijing-China bus did not completely withdraw from the historical stage. Whether it is at the foot of the gigantic Tiananmen Gate, or in front of the quaint drum building, or in front of the Olympic Building Bird's Nest, citizens can still ride to the Beijing-China bus. From large articulated buses to natural gas buses to Olympic pure electric buses, the generation of Beijing-China bus witnessed the development of Beijing's public transportation.

Jingtong Bus: 2009 merged with Jinghua Bus into Futian

Similar to Hualong Bus, Jingtong Bus is also a bus manufacturer that was developed by the auto repair shop. However, the Beijing Auto Bus Company, the former auto repair shop, is the largest repair shop in China. Jinghua Bus was founded in 1987. In 2009, it also silently transferred to Beiqi Foton. At this point, both Beijing bus companies are merged into Foton Motor Group.

Jingtong Bus has a total of 4 series and more than 30 kinds of models. Before 2009, it had firmly occupied the bus market of all the “Yuntong” flags in Beijing.

Yaxing Mercedes: Mercedes-Benz's first joint venture in China

With the development of the reform and opening up in the country, the company's institutional form is more diversified. Foreign capital enters Chinese enterprises and is gradually encouraged by the government. In 1997, the bus company established by Yangzhou Yaxing and Mercedes-Benz teamed up to produce the Mercedes-Benz brand and the Yaxing brand passenger car that were authorized by both parties. Yaxing Mercedes-Benz is also the first joint venture of Mercedes-Benz in China.

After the establishment of the joint venture company, its performance has been unsatisfactory, and there is a contradiction between the product overlap with Yaxing Bus Co., Ltd., another subsidiary of Yaxing Group. In 2007, Yangzhou Yaxing and Mercedes-Benz ended their decade-long cooperation. Yaxing-Benz’s bus business was incorporated into Yaxing.

However, the reorganized Yaxing Bus missed the golden development period of the bus industry, resulting in the declining Yangzhou Yaxing, which has ranked at the top of the passenger car industry for many years. The failure of Yaxing-Benz was seen as a classic case of the Chinese bus industry and even the automotive industry.

Changzhou Yangtze River Passenger Vehicle: Joint venture to change destiny Can BAIC rejuvenate its new life?

The Changzhou Yangtze River passenger coach can be described as a formidable company in the history of Chinese passenger cars.

From the 1950s to 2001, the “Changjiang” brand passenger car in Changzhou was famous from the north to the south, and its share of domestic large and medium-sized passenger car markets once reached 15%. In 2001, the Changzhou Yangtze River passenger vehicle and Italy Iveco joint venture established Changzhou Iveco. Due to poor management and deeper conflicts between China and foreign countries, Changzhou Iveco's performance plummeted. In 2006, foreign parties sold their holdings to China at a symbolic price of one US dollar. The failure of the joint venture between Yangtze River Passenger Car and Iveco once again proved that the bus joint venture has no future.

Since then, the Changzhou Yangtze River passenger car has been second in its hands. In 2009, it was reorganized by the Shuguang Automotive Group (ie, Changzhou Huanghai). At the end of 2015, Shuguang Automotive sold 100% of Changzhou Huanghai shares, which Chang Gaoxin Industrial Investment Co., Ltd. took over. The Yellow Sea in Changzhou has become a mess.

In 2016, Beijing Automotive Group officially took over and was ready to develop new energy buses by adopting the strategy of both commercial and business. Can Changzhou Changjiang Passenger Vehicles rejuvenate in the hands of BAIC?

North Mercedes-Benz Bus: Dreams don't necessarily illuminate reality

North Mercedes-Benz (Yantai) Co., Ltd. is a state-owned joint venture company and Beiben Heavy Gas participates. The goal of Mercedes-Benz Beibei Bus Manufacturing (Yantai) Co., Ltd., which has Mercedes-Benz technology, is to enter the luxury passenger car market. This has caused a lot of shocks in the bus industry at that time and various reports have been overwhelming. Although the dream is great and the disturbance is loud, it does not mean it can be easily achieved. North Mercedes-Benz achieved partial exports to overseas, but the development did not go smoothly. In 2007, Wang Shihong, General Manager of Bei Ben Heavy Duty Truck, formally announced that it had abandoned the Yantai passenger bus project, and the Beibei bus vehicle project has also been “disappeared”.

Trinity Bus: Want to make three points with Yutong and Jinlong

The Trinity Bus was founded in 2003 and was established by the private enterprise Sany Group of Hunan to set foot in the passenger car industry. At the beginning of its establishment, its goal was to Yutong and Jinlong, and it wanted to create a new market pattern of "North Yutong South Jinlong Middle Trinity". What is impressive about the operation of the Trinity bus is its "acquisitionism." Many of the high-level passenger trains were dug from Yutong and Jinlong. The first batch of products were named “New Dragon”, “Yulong” and “Dragon”, with the shadow of Yutong and Golden Dragon.

In 2007, the passenger cars of Trinity exited the passenger car market. The failed case of the 31 passenger car also proved once again that the passenger car industry is easy to enter and it is difficult to do so.

Shen Fei Hino: GAC takeover but still unable to get out of bankruptcy

The predecessor of Shen Fei Hino Motor Co., Ltd. is Shen Yang Shen Fei Automobile Co., Ltd., which was established in 1980 and is positioned as a luxury passenger car for tourism. In 2002, Shen Fei Group and Japan's Hino Auto Co., Ltd. jointly established Shenyang Shenfei Hino Motor Company.

Shenfei Hino high-end passenger car was put into production and officially launched at the end of 2003, but due to the limited demand of domestic high-end and large-scale passenger cars, Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and Daewoo first entered the market earlier than Shenfei Hino, together with the Hino brand produced by the joint venture company. Bus prices are expensive and other reasons, production and marketing are not ideal.

In 2008, Shenye Hino, a seven-year joint venture with Hino and Toyota, ceased production. Shen Fei’s price of 1 yuan listed for 46% of Shen Fei’s Hino. Afterwards, Shen Fei Hino was "accepted" by GAC Hino Motor Co., Ltd. and became GAC Hino (Shenyang) Company. Unfortunately, this restructuring has not changed the fate of the joint venture company. On May 11, 2016, GAC Group issued an announcement to the public. The board of directors of the Group reviewed and passed the Proposal on the Dissolution and Settlement of GAC Hino (Shenyang) and agreed that GAC Hino (Shenyang) Automobile Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of GAC Group, was losing money year after year. Relevant laws and regulations were dissolved and liquidated.

Lions Bus: Big Brother Yutong also had a joint venture history

The Lions Bus is a bus company jointly established by Yutong Bus and MAN in 2002. It has a total investment of approximately RMB 300 million and is mainly engaged in the development, production, sales and service of mid- to high-end chassis and parts for large and medium-sized buses. .

After the establishment of the joint venture company, the operation of the lionbus has been at a loss. After seven years of "marriage," Yutong and Man's cooperation ended in failure. At the beginning of 2009, Germany Mann transferred its 50% stake in lionbus to Yutong Group at the price of 1 Euro. Yutong Group assumed the obligation of German Mann's after-sales service and brand maintenance for the sold products of lionbus.

Guangzhou Isuzu: Lost in "Price Gate"

Guangzhou Isuzu Bus Co., Ltd. was established in 2000 and is a high-end passenger car manufacturer invested by Guangzhou Automobile, Japan Isuzu Auto Co., Ltd. and Isuzu (China) Investment Co., Ltd. At the time of the luxury passenger car market, Guangzhou Isuzu’s competitors included Anhui Kaisbauer, Yangzhou Yaxing Mercedes, Xi’an Volvo, and Shanghai Shenwo.

However, the market for high-end luxury passenger cars is limited, and Guangzhou Isuzu has a significant disadvantage in terms of price. Since the joint venture started, Guangzhou Isuzu has been losing money almost every year. People in the industry used "not life and death" to describe the current status of Guangzhou Isuzu. In order to increase market share, in 2004, Isuzu Bus reached 46% localization, and further increased to 57% in 2005. In the case where its own funds are not sufficient and it is impossible to establish its own dealer channel, Guangzhou Isuzu has also attempted sales outsourcing. However, due to the fact that the production cost has been kept under control, some localized products have experienced some problems, and their reputation has been greatly discounted in the minds of users. In the end, in the brutal market competition, Guangzhou Isuzu defeated.

In 2008, the National Development and Reform Commission approved the change of the enterprise name of Guangzhou Isuzu Bus Co., Ltd. into “Guangzhou Yuelong Bus Co., Ltd.”; the original Guangzhou Isuzu Bus Co., Ltd. has been included in the “Announcement” and all products transferred to “Guangzhou Denway Bus Co., Ltd.” . The "marriage" between Guangzhou Automobile and Isuzu officially ended.

Postscript:

There has never been a shortage of new businesses in the bus industry, many of which are cross-border. Passenger vehicle companies have entered the bus industry, such as BYD; high-speed rail companies have entered the bus industry, such as Hunan Zhongju; heavy truck companies have entered the bus industry, such as Beiben and China National Heavy Duty Truck; and parts and components companies have entered the bus industry, such as Wanxiang Group.

Can passenger cars really be so good?

From the past development history of these passenger car brands, we found that building a bus is not to say that it can be achieved with a dream. Temporary glory does not mean that you can sit back and relax. Old and new companies must keep up with the rhythm of the market and the pace of the times. Among these, testing bus companies is not only capital and technical capabilities, but also operational and adaptive capabilities.