Know the Story Behind Changan, the Country's Newest Car Brand

The future of Philippine mobility is here with Changan. The characters “Chang” and “An” put together mean “Lasting Safety.” This is what the country’s newest automotive player, Changan, offers the Filipino public.

Counted among China’s Top 4 auto brands, with a 158-year tradition of business excellence and 37 years in vehicle manufacturing with global sales of 1.3-million vehicles in 2019 alone, the Changan motoring tradition is not to be trifled with.

From its pioneering mass-produced vehicle, the Changjiang Type 46 jeep, launched in 1958, to its current lineup of future-forward cars, the Changan “V” embodies “victory” and “value” in five key areas of motoring pleasure—innovation, intelligence, quality, design, and sustainability. 

As the “Never-Stop Tech and Care Provider,” Changan is all about affordable yet amazingly value-laden cars born of the company’s yearly investment in product research and development (R&D), amounting to 5 percent of its annual sales revenue, or about US$1.5 billion.

Changan’s global R&D network today spans three continents with a staff of 80,000 from 24 countries: four facilities in China for vehicle engineering, top-billed by the Changan Automobile Global R&D Center in Chongqing; Yokohama, Japan for interior design; Turin, Italy for exterior styling; Birmingham, UK for advanced engine design; Detroit, USA for chassis design and autonomous driving technologies; and Munich, Germany for Intelligent Interaction, and development of new energy vehicles.

For the past decade, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China has consistently ranked Changan R&D at the top of the country’s highly competitive auto industry. 

There are currently 19 million satisfied Changan customers the world over. And Changan takes pride in having the lowest rate of customer complaints. Every new Changan vehicle has been field tested to ensure that it lasts at least 10 years of use or 260,000 kilometers of travel.

It figures: the company has been mindful about implementing its forward-thinking 4+N Technical concept. “4” pertains to “stylish, intelligent, eco-friendly, and enjoyable” technologies and “N” refers to the numerous fundamental support technologies, such as crash safety, NVH, chassis, and CAE.

Providing solid support for 4+N are “two magic weapons,” the Changan Automobile Product Development System (CA-PDS) and Changan Automobile Test and Verification System (CA-TVS).

CA-PDS covers the product life cycle and accurately guides the product development team to meet customer demands, while CA-TVS ensures durability and performance by subjecting every new model to more than 12,400 tests in 16 areas, including parts verification, system matching, and complete vehicle level, totaling 4,000,000 km of punishing driving conditions.

Product testing takes place at the sprawling Chongqing R&D base which houses the Changan Automobile Comprehensive Test Field, one of the most accurate of its kind in Asia.

With a design team led by over 440 experts of diverse nationalities and creative disciplines, Changan in the past decade has produced more than 10 concept vehicles and 20 mass-production vehicles that have become trendsetters and earned 20 design awards in China and overseas. 

In 2011, the Changan Eado sedan burst into the global scene at the Internationale Automobil Ausstellung in Frankfurt, Germany, capturing consumer attention for its dynamic design, ushering a new era for Chinese-branded vehicles. While the concept car of powerful CS95 holds the distinction of being the first China-made vehicle to be inducted to the National Automobile Museum of Turin, one of the world’s oldest automotive museums and dubbed the “dreamland” of car enthusiasts.

In China, Changan is a pioneer in mass producing intelligent vehicles that seamlessly link phone, car, and home through cloud-based interconnection. Its intelligent strategy, or the Dubhe Plan, envisions to transform Changan from a traditional auto maker to an intelligent travel technology company. Under Dubhe, the company has built its three-stage roadmap for autonomous driving technology: Level I-assisted driving; Level 2-semi-automatic driving; and Level 3-highly automatic driving.

In April 2016, the Changan Raeton completed a 2,000-km super autonomous driving test from Chongqing to Beijing. By 2020, Changan expects to mount Level 3 technology on its serialized models to offer customers intelligent mobility that is safe, personalized, and worry-free.

Changan has produced 16 new energy models thus far, including the all-new Eado. Its R&D bases in Chongqing and Beijing are dedicated to developing an entire ecosystem for EV operation.

In 2017, Changan launched its ambitious US$15 billion new energy strategy, dubbed the Shangri-La Plan. A year after, the company sold a total of 90,000 of its EV units. In the coming years, Changan aims to expand the production of its new energy product line.

Relationships are everything in China, and guanxi is all about developing trust. Which is what Changan Motors Philippines, Inc. (CMPI), the official distributor of Changan automobiles in the country is set to build with Filipino motorists.

“Trust is essential to engage in lasting relationships,” affirms CMPI President and CEO Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo. “And that takes conscious effort. We are confident about winning the hearts of customers who have an eye for stylish, tech-driven, value-for-money vehicles. We are also a step ahead in After Sales with our ground-breaking programs, headlined by the Changan 5-year or 150,000-km warranty. Do visit any of our 15 pioneer dealerships and 24 sales outlets across the country and experience for yourself the Lasting Safety of Changan.”

Source: Car Guides PH