Xie Lei was a classmate in my university department, same grade but different major. He took the Gaokao multiple times before getting in. Once in college, he went completely wild, playing football, gaming, playing poker, and reading novels with great enjoyment. When graduating, he had failed too many courses and didn't even get a graduation certificate.
It was natural that he didn't find a job, so he told his family he was preparing for graduate school, and continued to ask for living allowance to live a loose life around the school. He joined some training class, where there was an international student in the class, and he became friends with the international student.
After a long time, he couldn't hide it anymore and went back to his hometown. In the first few years, life was quite tight. Even at his wedding, he didn't have a suitable set of clothes, so he ran to the mall with the first batch of gift money to buy a new suit and then rushed back to the wedding. Later, inspired by his international student friend, he opened a bilingual kindergarten locally, starting from scratch. Unexpectedly, in just a few short years, he made a name for himself, and he couldn't stop.
When he returned to school for a 10-year anniversary reunion, he drove a Buick Enclave, becoming the standout of the whole class, the most successful classmate in his cohort in terms of career.
On May 28, 2026, SAIC Group held the "Global 100 Millionth User" delivery ceremony. The event was relayed across the country and even overseas, from the 99,999,996th vehicle to the 100,000,013th vehicle. Owners included Momenta CEO Cao Xudong, Dedao APP founder Luo Zhenyu, former German men's national football team player Yang Chen, and Pang Fuqiang, a post-85s village party branch secretary from Lantian, Shaanxi, who persisted in cooking and delivering meals for elderly people left behind, and so on.
Watching the delivery livestream, I thought of my university classmate Xie Lei. He is also one in 100 million.
Behind the 100 million vehicles are 100 million stories about struggle, about striving to live, about rushing towards ideals, and are 100 million lives that are either wonderful, ordinary, passionate, or rough. Among them are geniuses like Cao Xudong, trendsetters in the era of transformation like Luo Zhenyu, grassroots good cadres who serve the people wholeheartedly like Pang Fuqiang, and redemption stories of prodigals like Xie Lei.
100 million stories gathered together paint the torrent of the times in China, especially the booming development of China's economy and the rapid changes in Chinese society since the Reform and Opening Up.
SAIC Group is an important part of this torrent. Starting in an alley in 1955, hammering out the Phoenix brand sedan by hand in 1958, establishing China's first car joint venture in 1985, launching the world's first internet car in 2016, and returning to the position of China's largest production and sales car group in the first four months of 2026, continuing to be China's largest car group comprehensively developing autonomous and joint ventures, passenger cars and commercial vehicles, new energy and fuel cars, and local and overseas.
When the first Phoenix sedan was born in 1958, China's vehicle inventory was 172,600, and private cars were basically zero. National vehicle production was 16,000, the vast majority of which were trucks, and there were only 57 sedans.
By the end of 2025, the national vehicle inventory reached 366 million, which is over 2,000 times that of 1958. Private cars grew from zero to 323 million. Annual vehicle production and sales broke through 34 million, ranking first in the world for new car sales for 17 consecutive years. Among them, exports were nearly 7.1 million. In 2023, it became the world's first major car exporting country. In 2025, it became the world's first major car production country.
SAIC Group's 100 million vehicles participated in and witnessed the complete history of China's automotive industry from nothing to something, from small to large, from weak to strong, and from China to the world, playing an important role and exerting important influence within it.
The delivery of the 100 millionth vehicle is a glorious moment for SAIC Group and a birth node for China's first billion-level car company. In my opinion, what is more moving is that it allows people like Pang Fuqiang to come to the forefront, allows people like Xie Lei to break into our minds, and allows us to take this opportunity to look back at the road we have come. 100 million vehicles are not just the combination of assembly lines and steel and rubber. Behind them are 100 million vivid people, 100 million families, and 100 million versions of stories silently striving upwards.
Of course, for China's automotive industry, this is also a brilliant milestone moment.
The Whampoa Military Academy of China's Automobiles
China's modern automotive industry started with a Santana.
In 1983, SAIC began producing Santana models in SKD (Semi-Knocked Down) assembly. In 1985, after 6 years of negotiations,
SAIC Group and Volkswagen Germany established China's first sedan joint venture SAIC Volkswagen, producing domestic Santanas.
From then on, China officially introduced advanced global automotive technology and management systems and established a complete automotive parts system. In this process, the most important driving force was Santana localization.
At that time, China's industrial base was weak, and parts quality was low. German Volkswagen's standards were extremely strict, and vehicles were not allowed to be assembled if they did not meet Volkswagen standards. At the beginning of Santana production, only 5 parts could be matched domestically, and the localization rate was 2.7%.
In 1987, Zhu Rongji proposed that Santana localization should absolutely not do "substitutes" (using lower quality alternatives) and must insist on international standards. By 1993, the Santana localization rate exceeded 80%, and in 1996 it exceeded 90%.
In this process, over 400 local parts enterprises were reformed according to German standards, with materials, heat treatment, stamping, welding, coating, and testing comprehensively upgraded. A large number of local supply chain enterprises such as Yanfeng Automotive Trim, Fuyao Glass, Huayu Automotive, Yapu Auto Systems, Ningbo Huaxiang, Desay SV, Joyson Electronics, Wanxiang Qianchao, and Shanghai Tire completed the original accumulation of technology, quality, and management in the Santana project, and later grew into industry giants.
It can be said that without Santana localization, there would be no China's automotive industry system today, and SAIC Volkswagen is the Whampoa Military Academy of China's automobiles.
The stories of transformation and counterattack in here still read as hot and intense today. For example, Volkswagen's durability standard for Santana horns was 50,000 sounds and still qualified. In the Santana localization project, the German engineer raised the horn durability standard to 150,000 times—higher than the German standard.
At that time, China's domestic automotive horn durability standard was only 20,000 to 30,000 times. The Chinese side thought the German side was deliberately making difficulties. After in-depth understanding, they knew this was the conclusion drawn by the German team's field research. Germany's traffic order was mature, and drivers rarely honked, so 50,000 times left a large redundancy. But China at that time, drivers honked at least 10 times more than Germany. 150,000 times was a reasonable standard given after the German team's weighing.
The samples from the Shanghai Traffic Electrical Factory responsible for matching were returned 11 times. Previous standards and processes were all pushed back to the drawing board, improving contact material, thickening diaphragms, optimizing waterproofing, and adjusting circuits. Finally, they successfully passed the new standard test and became the first key part to achieve domestic localization in the Santana.
Thus, the standard for domestic Santana horns surpassed that of Germany. The horns from the Shanghai Traffic Electrical Factory were more durable and cheaper than the German original parts. After mass supply to SAIC Volkswagen, they were also exported back to Germany and mounted on local Santanas. Later, the Shengjia brand won the US General Motors global bid and entered the global supply chain.
Automotive horns were not isolated cases. When China's automotive industry, which was completely empty, met global first-class standards like German Volkswagen, the sparks and energy released were huge. The stimulation and promotion to local enterprises were unprecedented, forcing companies to tackle difficulties and undergo a complete metamorphosis.
It can be said that a Santana localization project allowed China's automotive industry to skip grades from the Iron Age to the Electrical Age. Santana localization not only bred a large number of supply chain giants but also cultivated a large number of modern automotive industry management talents and formed a complete automotive production system, quality system, inspection system, parts supply system, and process. Later, multiple local car companies developed on the basis of this mature system and supply chain.
So it can be said that without Santana localization, there would be no China's automotive industry system today, and SAIC Volkswagen is the Whampoa Military Academy of China's automobiles.
SAIC Spirit: Three Cultures and One Philosophy
SAIC Group served 100 million users in over 70 years, promoted the development of China's automotive industry, experienced four major development stages of hard startup, joint venture cooperation, independent brand construction, and intelligent electric transformation, and always stood at the forefront of the mainstream car companies.
In the times of change and industry transformation, crossing the cycle and always moving upward, SAIC Group relies not only on products, technology, and systems but also on an invisible power behind them, the SAIC Spirit.
What is the SAIC Spirit? It is rooted in the Haipai culture soil of openness, innovation, inclusiveness, and pragmatism, built on the rigor, refinement, cooperation, and integration of the automotive industry, and enriched and iterated by drawing on Western modern management thought and commercial civilization in cooperation with partners such as Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, etc.
Car Riff believes the SAIC Spirit includes at least three cultures and one philosophy: Breakthrough Culture, Cooperation Culture, Quality Culture, and the "Know cars, understand you better" user philosophy.
Breakthrough Culture is not being satisfied with the status quo, daring to step out of the comfort zone, daring to be the first, and embracing change. From the small parts factory in the alley daring to build cars at the beginning, to daring joint venture cooperation in the early stage of Reform and Opening Up, to boldly developing the independent sector in the golden period of joint ventures, daring to be the first in the fields of electrification, intelligence, and going global, all embody this breakthrough culture.
Under the guidance of Breakthrough Culture, SAIC Group has pioneered many industries.
In 2002, established China's first automotive logistics joint venture with Netherlands TNT.
In the same year, established SAIC-GM-Wuling through a joint venture with GM China and Wuling, pioneering the three-party cooperation mode in complete vehicles.
In 2003, established China's first automotive dedicated RoRo terminal joint venture with Shanghai Port Group.
In 2004, established China's first automotive finance joint venture with General Motors.
In 2007, merged with Nanjing Auto Group, becoming an important milestone in the strategic restructuring of China's automotive industry.
In 2012, Roewe E50 went on sale, becoming China's first mass-produced pure electric sedan.
In 2016, cooperated with Alibaba to launch the world's first mass-produced internet car Roewe RX5, opening a new track for automotive intelligence.
In July 2025, became the only enterprise in the industry to obtain passenger car and commercial vehicle L4 level licenses.
In the same year December, globally premiered the semi-solid battery model new MG4 Anxin Edition.
From technology, products to models, SAIC Group's breakthrough culture has never stopped.
Cooperation Culture, SAIC Group is the car company with the richest and most widespread cooperation models among domestic car companies, from China-foreign joint ventures to China-China cooperation (SAIC-Nanjing merger), to China-China-foreign (SAIC-GM-Wuling). SAIC Group is also the only one among domestic car companies with two luxury brand partners, SAIC-GM Cadillac and SAIC Audi.
Cooperation beyond complete vehicles is even wider. Many of the aforementioned industry pioneers are cooperation results, covering logistics, finance, and internet. SAIC Group's cooperation culture, from pioneering the joint venture paradigm to building a whole industry chain alliance and creating a global cooperation network, covers the entire industry value chain.
Quality Culture, from the horn case in Santana localization above, it can be seen that from Santana, quality culture has been deeply carved into the gene of SAIC Group.
Day after day for decades, high standards on quality eventually turned into reputation like "10-year non-fading paint", "Zero spontaneous combustion battery", "300,000 km without major repair", etc.
And also the "Know cars, understand you better" user philosophy.
In April 2025, SAIC Group held "Know cars, understand you better · SAIC Night" on the banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, formally proposing the development strategy centered on "Empowerment-driven advancement, co-creating better mobility".
Actually, the "Know cars, understand you better" user philosophy has been flowing in SAIC's blood for decades, it was just formally proposed at this time.
The horn case in Santana localization above is a typical "Know cars, understand you better". The durability standard for car horns is not unchangeable, nor is it decided by the manufacturer, but is tailored to the local conditions according to different market users' usage habits. It is not how much technology the manufacturer can do that is set, but how much users need, how much the manufacturer's technology must do.
Product standards are not decided by manufacturer technology but by user needs. This thinking and way of doing things was born from Santana localization, taught by German teachers, and has grown and iterated for over 40 years. Today it has surpassed the former teachers.
Users want to use the internet in the car, so SAIC developed the first internet car. Users want to use smart driving, so SAIC cooperated with Momenta and Huawei, striving to gather the strongest smart driving technology.
This time, the 100 millionth delivery is distributed in 4 countries, nearly 20 delivery points, each with themes and characteristics. The biggest commonality is pushing the users to the center of the stage. SAIC Group used one delivery ceremony to thank users, thank these 100 million trust commitments, and give back to users with better products and services.
Written at the End
The small broken factory that hammered cars with hammers 68 years ago has grown into an industry giant, building a global business map covering the whole industry chain, covering complete vehicles, parts, mobility and services, finance, international operations, and innovative businesses, entering the Fortune Global 500 list 21 times.
SAIC first realized passenger car exports in 2001. Now products and services are all over the world in over 170 countries and regions, with cumulative overseas delivery exceeding 7 million. Overseas, SAIC has over 100 parts production bases, over 3,000 dealer networks, built 3 major R&D innovation centers such as London, and Thailand, Indonesia, India, Pakistan 4 production and manufacturing centers, and formed China's first, globally leading complete vehicle logistics self-owned fleet.
SAIC Group's first 100 million vehicles were mostly Chinese stories. Next, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th 100 million vehicles, will write world stories, stories of all humanity.
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