BAIC went from copying a Soviet saloon to owning part of Mercedes
In December 2021 a Beijing state carmaker became the single biggest shareholder in the company behind Mercedes-Benz, holding 9.98 percent. BAIC started out in 1958 building a car based on the Soviet GAZ-21, and along the way bought old Saab designs, partnered with Hyundai and teamed up with Huawei.
Headquartered in Shunyi, Beijing, and owned by the state, the group began as Beijing Automobile Works, whose early success came from the Dongfanghong BJ760 saloon. Today it ranks as China's sixth largest carmaker, with 1.723 million sales in 2021. Much of its business lies outside ordinary passenger cars: its Foton arm makes trucks, buses and farm machinery, and the group also supplies commercial and military vehicles.
Its route to Western technology was bumpy. In 2009 BAIC tried and failed to buy Saab, Volvo and Opel, and to acquire technology from Chrysler. Later that year it bought intellectual property from Saab instead: three vehicle platforms, technology from the 9-3 and 9-5, two engines and two transmissions. It could build older Saab designs but not use the Saab name. The first result, the Senova C70, whose Chinese name translates roughly as gentleman's treasure, arrived in May 2013, a year late.
Foreign partnerships remain central. Beijing Hyundai is split evenly between BAIC Motor and Hyundai, a popular pairing that helped push BAIC to fifth place nationally by 2010 with more than 8 percent of the market. Beijing Benz builds Mercedes cars locally. In July 2019 the group bought 5 percent of Daimler, before raising the holding past Geely's. By 2016 it was selling 2.85 million vehicles and appeared on the Fortune Global 500.
Electric cars now carry much of its ambition. BAIC BluePark runs the premium Arcfox brand, set up in 2017, and electric Beijing models, and in August 2024 it launched the Stelato S9 flagship saloon with Huawei. The rugged Beijing Off-road range has operated as a separate brand since 2020.
Source: BAIC Group
