Who Are the 20 Key Events of "Chinese Cars: 20 Years That Changed the World"?

Written by | Xuanyuan Matrix

Editor | Huang Dalu

Designer | Zhen Youmei

China's automotive industry has a history of over 70 years, but the two decades from 2006 to 2026 determined its new position on the global automotive landscape.

In 2006, 'Auto Business Review' was established, the same year China's new energy vehicles entered the national medium and long-term science and technology plan. From then until now, we have walked a 20-year journey, while China's automotive industry has undergone a historical structural transformation.

From joint venture brands long dominating, to independent brands rising comprehensively; from high-speed growth of traditional fuel vehicles, to new energy vehicles entering a scaled development phase; from relying on overseas technology, to Chinese batteries, intelligent driving, intelligent cockpits, and complete vehicle manufacturing capabilities going global — China is growing from the world's largest automotive market into an important force driving global automotive industry change.

Standing at the historical milestone of the 20th anniversary of the founding of 'Auto Business Review', we launched the 'Chinese Cars: 20 Years That Changed the World' Co-creation Plan, hoping to organize industry trends and preserve industrial memory together with all witnesses, writing down the 20 years belonging to China's automotive industry.

'Chinese Cars: 20 Years That Changed the World' sets up five phases of public voting, releases 150 candidate cases, inviting industry experts, automotive practitioners, and the general public to participate jointly.

Which car manufacturers changed the landscape of China's automotive industry? Which supply chain enterprises built China's automotive technical foundation? Which brands reshaped market value? Which models became coordinates of the times? Which specific moments changed the industry process?

Five votes, 150 candidate cases.

From complete vehicle enterprises to core supply chains, from brand rise to product transformation, to historical moments determining industry direction — your every vote is leaving a footnote for this era.

For the first phase OEM section, we invite you to select 20 car manufacturers that truly reshaped the landscape of China's automotive industry from 30 representative candidate complete vehicle enterprises (Group Entities + Sino-Foreign Joint Venture Automakers + New EV Manufacturers) in the development of China's automotive industry. Heavyweight Vote ① | 20 Years of Turbulence, Who Reshaped Chinese Cars?

For the second phase Supply Chain section, we invite you to select 20 core supply chain tech enterprises, locally controlled in China, supporting the upgrading of China's automotive industry from 30 candidate enterprises. Heavyweight Vote ② | Who Are the Top 20 Supply Chains of 'Chinese Cars: 20 Years That Changed the World'?

For the third phase Brand section, we invite you to select 20 key brands that reshaped the market value of China's automotive market from 30 candidate automotive brands. Heavyweight Vote ③ | Who Are the Top 20 Brands of 'Chinese Cars: 20 Years That Changed the World'?

For the fourth phase Model section, we invite you to select 20 landmark models that truly changed the development of China's automotive market from 30 candidate models. Heavyweight Vote ④ | Who Are the 20 Representative Models of 'Chinese Cars: 20 Years That Changed the World'?

Now it is time for the fifth phase Event section voting, let's take a look together, in the past 20 years, which important moments changed the historical process of China's automotive industry?

Industry history is not composed of vague trends, but is pushed by individual key events that actually occurred.

Caption: 2025 Layout of Major Automakers in China

The release of a document might determine the future of a technology route; the signing of an agreement might change the fate of an enterprise or even an industry; a product delivery might allow a new technology to truly enter public life; a court ruling might also declare a business model at its end.

In the process of China's automotive industry from 2006 to 2026, with 'Specific Date, Clear Entity, Iconic Action, Long-term Impact' as the basic standard, Xuanyuan Think Tank and Auto Business Review Editorial Department preliminarily selected 30 key events.

'Chinese Cars: The 20 Years That Changed the World' Fifth Phase Voting, we invite you to select 20 key events. Your every vote is leaving a footnote for this era.

Who Are the 20 Key Events of 'Chinese Cars: 20 Years That Changed the World'? Select Multiple

1. February 9, 2006: New Energy Vehicles Included in National Medium and Long-Term Science and Technology Development Strategy

2. December 26, 2007: SAIC Group and Yuejin Group Launch Strategic Restructuring

3. September 26, 2008: Berkshire Hathaway Energy Strategic Investment in BYD

4. January 23, 2009: 'Ten Cities Thousand Vehicles' New Energy Vehicle Demonstration Project Launched

5. March 1, 2009: Vehicle to Countryside Policy Implementation Begins

6. March 28, 2010: Geely Signs Volvo Cars Acquisition Agreement with Ford

7. December 23, 2010: Beijing Implements Passenger Vehicle Quota Control

8. May 8, 2012: BMW Brilliance and CATL Launch Power Battery Joint Development

9. September 15, 2012: Multi-region Protests Involving Japan and Smashing of Japanese-brand Vehicles Impact Automotive Market

10. April 22, 2014: Musk Delivered Tesla Model S to First Batch of Chinese Owners in Beijing

11. June 4, 2014: SAIC MG Thailand Production Base Put into Operation

12. July 23, 2014: LeEco Auto Established, Wave of Internet Companies Cross-industry Auto Manufacturing Rises

13. August 1, 2014: New Energy Vehicle Purchase Tax Exemption Policy Released

14. May 9, 2015: Jia Ke Proposes 'Automotive Four Modernizations' Industry Judgment at Auto Blue Book Forum

15. September 8, 2016: New Energy Vehicle Subsidy Fraud Investigation Results Announced, Suzhou King Long Case and Wu Wenwen Fatal Fall Attract Attention

16. September 27, 2017: Passenger Vehicle Enterprise 'Dual-Credit' Management System Established

17. October 11, 2018: BMW Announces Raising BMW Brilliance Shareholding Ratio to 75%

18. January 23, 2020: Wuhan Closes Passages, Automotive Supply Chain Disrupted on a Large Scale

19. April 29, 2020: Hefei State-owned Assets Strategic Investment in NIO China

20. April 20, 2021: Huawei Launches Automotive Sales Business in Consumer Electronics Stores

21. February 11, 2022: Luxshare Group Invests 10 Billion Yuan in Chery and Layout for New Energy Vehicle ODM

22. August 8, 2022: Wuhan Launches Full Autonomous Driving Paid Operations

23. May 25, 2023: Great Wall Motor Reports BYD Partial Plug-in Hybrid Models Using Conventional Pressure Fuel Tanks Suspected Non-compliance with Emissions

24. July 26, 2023: Volkswagen Strategic Investment in XPeng and Launch Intelligent Electric Vehicle Technology Cooperation

25. October 4, 2023: European Union Launches Electric Vehicle Anti-Subsidy Investigation on China

26. July 30, 2024: Politburo of the CPC Central Committee Proposes Preventing 'Involutionary' Malicious Competition

27. December 23, 2024: BYD Brazil Factory Construction Project Encounters Labor Disputes

28. March 29, 2025: Xiaomi SU7 High-Speed Collision Fire Incident Triggers Driving Assistance Safety Discussion

29. June 11, 2025: 17 Key Car Companies Promised Supplier Payment Terms Not Exceeding 60 Days

30. May 15, 2026: Dongfeng, Stellantis and Local State-owned Assets Launch Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën Automobile 'Re-Joint Venture' Cooperation