When it comes to China’s automotive industry, the market has long upheld a clear pattern: Chongqing leads in total vehicle output, Hefei dominates new energy transformation, and Guangzhou boasts a solid foundation in traditional fuel vehicles. These industry hubs enjoy unparalleled resources, market attention and industrial dividends, standing firmly under the spotlight as the nation’s automotive trendsetters. Yet beyond the glare of publicity lies a low-profile city in northern Jiangsu — Yancheng. Endowed with neither profound industrial heritage nor first-mover advantages, it has forged ahead relentlessly in the automotive race with sheer grit and perseverance, striving for achievements no less remarkable than those of top-tier automotive cities.
Yancheng’s automotive turnaround is a testament to the power of ordinary people’s relentless efforts. In 2023, the city’s annual automobile output stood at a mere 160,000 units, a negligible figure in the national industry. In 2024, production doubled overnight, marking a leap forward in development. By 2025, its production and sales volume had surpassed 400,000 units. These numbers, trivial in the eyes of major automotive hubs, represent the hard-won fruits of generations of Yancheng automotive professionals who have weathered countless industry troughs. Home to three complete vehicle manufacturing bases, Yancheng embodies the spirit of countless ordinary strivers: it never trumpets grand ambitions, only keeps working diligently and perseveringly to hold its ground in the fiercely competitive industry.
Yueda Kia: A Against-the-Odds Comeback, Upholding Dignity and Benevolence Amid Industry Lows
Yancheng’s most iconic automotive brand is Yueda Kia, which has rooted itself in the city for more than two decades. Having endured prolonged industry winters and teetered on the brink of withdrawal, the long-standing Sino-Korean joint venture staged a remarkable turnaround through concerted efforts from both the local government and the enterprise itself.
Starting from 2017, intensified market competition and industrial restructuring triggered a sustained sharp decline in Kia’s sales in China. In June 2019, Yueda Kia’s No.1 factory officially suspended production. Doubts flooded the market, with widespread claims that Korean car brands would completely exit the Chinese market, pushing the brand into its darkest hour.
Yet no one chose to give up in the face of adversity. Yancheng remained committed to nurturing its local automotive industry and supporting the brand’s transformation, while Yueda Kia refused to retreat from its long-term base. Pinpointing overseas exports as its breakthrough strategy, the brand ushered in a vital turning point. In 2024, Yueda Kia achieved an annual production and sales volume of 258,000 units, with overseas exports serving as its core growth driver. In 2025, its cumulative domestic sales reached 254,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 2.3%, securing positive growth for two consecutive years and fully emerging from its prolonged downturn.
The hard-won growth ultimately benefited every employee. Amid fierce industry involution, rising raw material costs, fluctuating exchange rates, and widespread layoffs and salary cuts across domestic automakers, Yueda Kia announced company-wide salary hikes in June 2025. Covering all on-the-job employees, the average salary increased by 2%. Adhering to a people-centric philosophy, the enterprise rewarded its staff with tangible benefits. This heartwarming move amid industry austerity was no coincidence — it was the dignity and confidence earned by Yancheng’s automotive team through booming overseas export orders.
Human Horizons Factory: Reborn From Ashes, Reviving Industrial Vitality From Idle Production Lines
If Yueda Kia’s comeback was a desperate counterattack, the story of Yancheng’s Human Horizons factory epitomizes the city’s turbulent yet resilient industrial journey.
Following the shutdown of Yueda Kia’s No.1 factory in 2019, Jiangsu Yueda Group entered a strategic cooperation with Human Horizons to renovate and upgrade the idle plant for the production of high-end intelligent electric vehicles. In 2020, the Human Horizons HiPhi X hit the market with a premium price range of 570,000 to 800,000 RMB, making the factory a benchmark for Yancheng’s high-end intelligent manufacturing and shouldering all expectations for the city’s automotive industrial upgrading.
Nevertheless, its high-end market positioning failed to translate into robust sales. The brand sold merely 4,237 units in 2021, struggling to gain market recognition. In February 2024, Human Horizons suspended production; in August the same year, its parent company filed for bankruptcy. Yancheng’s high-stakes bet on industrial upgrading came to an abrupt halt, leaving the factory idle and the city’s industrial upgrade prospects uncertain.
In industrial cycles, perseverance prevails against all odds. Where there are people, there is hope. In early 2026, Yueda Automotive Group signed a cooperation agreement with Chery Automobile to establish a new joint venture. The once stagnant Human Horizons factory was fully revitalized and repurposed exclusively for manufacturing vehicles for overseas export.
Backed by Chery’s formidable overseas market strength, the factory gained a new lease of life. Chery exported 1.344 million vehicles worldwide in 2025, with export volume hitting 752,700 units in the first five months of 2026 alone. Massive overseas orders provided steady and robust support for the factory’s production. The once silent and deserted production lines roared back to life with lights blazing, continuing the enduring vitality of Yancheng’s automotive industry.
FAW Yueyi: A New Force Leading Yancheng’s New Energy Transformation
After stabilizing the traditional fuel vehicle sector and revitalizing idle production capacity, Yancheng placed its most crucial industrial bet on new energy vehicles — with FAW Yueyi standing as the core pillar of its new energy strategic layout.
Empowered by FAW Bestune’s technical resources and industrial accumulation, Yueyi series models have become the brand’s sales backbone. At the end of 2024, the combined sales of Yueyi 03 and Yueyi 07 exceeded 6,800 units. Despite subsequent minor sales fluctuations, Yueyi remains the core model sustaining FAW Bestune’s market performance among household vehicle products.
To seize new energy market opportunities and build on its momentum, FAW Bestune officially spun off its new energy product line “Yueyi” as an independent sub-brand under FAW Group. Yancheng serves as Yueyi’s core production base and intelligent manufacturing center. In May 2026, the first mass-produced FAW Yueyi 08 rolled off the production line in Yancheng, marking the maturity of the city’s new energy vehicle manufacturing system.
Built on a brand-new dedicated platform, Yueyi plans to launch six new models targeting the mainstream affordable new energy vehicle market priced from 80,000 to 150,000 RMB, perfectly filling FAW Group’s product gap in the mass-market new energy segment. In contrast to FAW’s high-end brands such as Hongqi and Golden Sunflower, Yueyi undertakes the core mission of volume sales and market expansion, emerging as the key driver of Yancheng’s new energy industrial transformation.
The Tenacity of a Small City: Perseverance Lights Up Industrial Hope
After years of persistent exploration and breakthroughs, Yancheng’s automotive industry has bid farewell to the era of relying solely on Yueda Kia. With three core competitive pillars — Yueda Kia, Chery’s export-focused manufacturing base, and FAW Yueyi’s new energy production — the city has comprehensively upgraded its industrial layout, targeting an annual production capacity of 600,000 units in 2026 and stepping into a brand-new development stage.
This small city in northern Jiangsu lacks the industrial scale of Chongqing, the new energy spotlight of Hefei, and the century-old manufacturing heritage of Guangzhou. Its rise stems neither from excessive policy dividends nor market hype, but from the down-to-earth, unyielding perseverance of local automotive practitioners.
Yancheng’s automotive story is no legend of overnight success, but a tale of tenacious growth by ordinary people. Factories may suspend operations, production lines may stand idle, and markets may face downturns. Yet as long as industrial original aspirations remain firm and practitioners never back down, the spark of industry will never fade. Persistent dedication through hardships will ultimately restart dormant production lines, allowing this low-profile small city to shine brightly in China’s automotive industry.
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