Foday

The predecessor of Foday Automobile was the Nanjing Automotive Industrial Joint Operation Company Nanhai Automobile Factory, established in 1988 as a state-owned enterprise. The factory was in a state of severe losses from its establishment until 2000. In 2001, it was restructured into a private enterprise, Guangdong Foday Automotive Co., Ltd., with registered capital of approximately 1.489 billion RMB. At the beginning of the restructuring, the company did not produce complete vehicles directly; its main business was providing body parts to domestic automakers to secure a survival niche. In June 2001, Foday began early co-operation with Great Wall Motors, gradually getting back on track.

In 2005, Foday completed China's first large-size passenger car body cathodic electrocoating line, reaching domestically leading and internationally advanced levels in painting process technology. Later that year, the "Guangdong Provincial Automobile Body Parts Engineering Technology Research and Development Centre" was established upon government approval. Subsequently, the company continued to grow, reaching an annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicle bodies and 100,000 complete vehicles, becoming the largest stamping centre in the South China region and one of the largest automobile production bases in Guangdong Province. In 2010, Foday achieved sales of 1.57 billion RMB, reaching the peak of its brand history.

In the late 2010s, Foday's complete vehicle sales began to decline sharply, while its body parts supply business continued to expand steadily, becoming a long-term partner for OEMs such as Foton, BAIC, and GAC. In 2019, Foday's annual passenger car sales were only 543 units; in the first two months of 2020, only 53 units were sold, with severe overcapacity. On 19 March 2020, XPeng Motors acquired Guangdong Foday Automotive Co., Ltd. in full via its wholly-owned subsidiary, Zhaoqing XPeng New Energy Investment Co., Ltd., for approximately 16 million RMB. The legal representative was changed to Xia Heng, co-founder and president of XPeng Motors. The core purpose of this acquisition was to resolve XPeng Motors' production qualification issues, enabling it to utilise its own factory for production without relying on Haima Automobile for contract manufacturing. Subsequently, the Foday brand's complete vehicle business was essentially terminated, entering a new development phase focused on body parts supply.

Product Lineup

Foday Automobile's product system consisted of two major segments: complete vehicles and body parts. Complete vehicle products covered categories such as pickup trucks, SUVs, and commercial vehicles.

In the pickup truck sector, Foday's main models included the Foday Lion, Little Superman, as well as the Lion F16 and Lion F22. The Lion F16 had a starting manufacturer's suggested retail price of 58,800 RMB, targeting the economy market; the Lion F22 had a starting manufacturer's suggested retail price of 77,800 RMB, offering manual and automatic transmission options, with a complete vehicle warranty of 3 years or 60,000 kilometres. In the SUV sector, the Foday Explorer series included models such as Explorer II, Explorer III, and Explorer 6, in addition to the Flyover series SRV. Landfort was positioned as a mid-size SUV with a starting manufacturer's suggested retail price of 140,000 RMB, offering both petrol and diesel powertrain options, adopting a non-monocoque body structure and a seven-seat layout, targeting a rugged off-road style. In addition, the Landfort series featured a large body size, with dimensions of 4771x1870x1828mm, and a high chassis design suitable for rural and construction site environments. In the bus sector, Foday's product line once included models such as the NHQ6510A1 and NHQ6520V.

In the body parts sector, Foday possessed the production capability for large stamping parts and large body coverings, able to provide R&D and manufacturing services for key components such as vehicle bodies and chassis for clients, being the largest stamping centre in the South China region.

Market Performance

Foday Automobile's market performance can be summarised as "rise first, then decline, with a clear inflection point." In 2010, the company achieved sales revenue of 1.57 billion RMB, the highest level in the brand's history. However, entering the late 2010s, sales plummeted sharply owing to multiple factors, including domestic automobile market consumption upgrades, tightening of policies and regulations, and lagging product iterations.

Monthly and annual sales data from 2019 to 2020 clearly show this trend: Foday's annual passenger car sales were 543 units in 2019; in 2020, they fell further to 68 units, a year-on-year decrease of 87.48%. In April 2020, SUV sales were only 7 units, a year-on-year decrease of 87.93%, with production at 0 units; in February, sales were only 1 unit, a year-on-year decrease of 95.24%. The brand had long been ranked outside the top 90 in the manufacturer sales rankings for each month, with market share tending towards 0%. There was severe overcapacity: monthly sales in 2019 were less than 500 units, while the factory with an annual capacity of 100,000 complete vehicles operated in a low-load state for an extended period. After Foday was wholly acquired by XPeng Motors in 2020, the sales history of Foday as an independent complete vehicle brand was essentially terminated.

Core Technologies

Foday Automobile's core capabilities are mainly reflected in the fields of body manufacturing and stamping processes, rather than at the complete vehicle R&D and powertrain levels. The company possesses modern mould CNC machining centres, as well as advanced stamping, welding, painting, and final assembly production lines. Complete vehicle production processes are comprehensive, with the capacity to produce 300,000 vehicle bodies annually. The company was approved by the government to establish the "Guangdong Provincial Automobile Body Parts Engineering Technology Research and Development Centre" in 2005. It also passed ISO9001 international quality management system certification, ISO/TS16949 certification, and 3C China market access certification.

In terms of complete vehicle development, Foday mainly adopted the mature technology transplantation strategy: the Explorer and Landfort series SUVs adopted non-monocoque body structures and Mitsubishi chassis development technology. Diesel powertrains selected mature engine models matched with manual transmissions, without an independent forward R&D system overall. The brand had less presence in frontier technical fields such as electrification and intelligence; only in the 2010s did it attempt some conceptual exploration of new energy vehicles, but no mass production was achieved. Owing to the adjustment of business focus after acquisition, Foday has not further pursued independent complete vehicle core technology R&D.

Global Footprint

Foday Automobile was one of the earliest domestic brands to carry out complete vehicle and parts export business. The company's co-operation methods with foreign partners were flexible: in addition to complete vehicle exports, it could also assist customers in establishing automobile production lines and export body parts in CKD mode. Products have been exported to many countries and regions in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, West Asia, Africa, and South America. Foday launched an international version pickup truck in 2014 to enter the ASEAN market. Body dimensions reached 5450x1760x1760mm, adopting a double-cab four-door five-seat configuration, integrating a luxurious in-vehicle platform with multiple functions, including satellite navigation, audio/visual entertainment, and mobile communication.

After the acquisition transformation, export business also changed. In 2022, the Guangdong Foday Wuhan Base Project commenced construction, with a total investment of 500 million RMB, planning an annual capacity of 500,000 sets. The factory is positioned as highly automated and intelligent, with target customers including XPeng, BYD, BAIC, GAC, and other domestic mainstream automobile manufacturers. It will still continue to maintain some export capabilities, serving overseas parts and CKD assembly customers. However, complete vehicle export business has significantly decreased with the contraction of complete vehicle manufacturing operations.

Future Outlook

The operation of Foday Automobile as an independent complete vehicle brand was de facto terminated after being wholly acquired by XPeng Motors in 2020. In terms of complete vehicle business, the Foday brand no longer launches new models; main models such as the Foday Lion and Landfort have been gradually discontinued. The original 100,000-unit complete vehicle capacity is used by XPeng Motors for independent production. The Foday brand no longer has new car registration records in mainstream statistical channels such as the CPCA. After acquisition, Foday Company retained its status as a body parts supplier within the XPeng Motors system and a manufacturing entity with body parts and stamping business as its main focus.

However, there remains a possibility for the Foday brand and its affiliated companies to have a presence in niche markets such as special purpose vehicles. In May 2025, the Minhou County People's Government signed the Foday Special Purpose Vehicle Intelligent Manufacturing Project with Foday (Fujian) Special Purpose Vehicle Manufacturing Co., Ltd., mainly building an emergency micro fire truck intelligent production line, R&D centre, and supporting facilities, producing emergency micro fire truck accessories, dewatering pumps, and new energy electric vehicle accessories. This indicates that outside of traditional pickup and SUV businesses, the Foday brand is seeking new growth points in the fields of special purpose vehicles and new energy parts. However, in the mainstream passenger car market, the Foday brand has essentially exited. Its historical significance is more reflected in its identity as the "South China Stamping King" parts supplier, and as a key stepping stone for XPeng Motors—a leading new energy automaker—to obtain production qualifications, forming unique industry benchmarks at these two levels.