Yellow River JN150 to today’s X7 Take a look at the transformation of Heavy Duty Truck

Recently, the Group’s first new model AERO 7 (hereinafter referred to as X7) series was officially launched, which means that this 60-year-old Chinese auto brand has once again given new life and taken on a new mission.

As the first new model after Mr. Tan Xuguang launched the heavy truck, it is also a witness to the comeback of the Yellow River brand and the inheritor of the Yellow River spirit. It came by the Yellow River and returned to the Yellow River again.

Behind all X7 is the historical witness of the rebirth and transformation of Sinotruk Group. Today, the author will review the entrepreneurial process of Sinotruk with the audience and friends.

The predecessor of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group was the Jinan Auto Parts Factory established in 1956, which was the only automobile industry-related enterprise in Shandong Province at that time.

In 1958, after the introduction of the former Soviet Union car models, the Yellow River brand JN220 off-road vehicle was developed, ending the history of no automobile industry in Shandong Province. At the same time, Jinan Auto Parts Factory was renamed Jinan Automobile Factory and became the only automobile manufacturing enterprise in Shandong Province at that time.

After the introduction of the policy of "building socialism in a better province as soon as possible", our country’s modernization needs a series of varieties of automobiles to meet its growing construction needs. Therefore, after taking over the task of trial production of 8-ton cargo vehicles assigned by relevant state departments, Jinan Automobile Manufacturing Plant began to enter the research and development and trial production process of new models.

Under difficult conditions, on April 15, 1960, the 8-ton truck trial-produced by Jinan Automobile Factory was successfully rolled off the production line. This model was based on the Skoda 706 truck from the former Czechoslovakia in the socialist camp country, which was the first generation of large-tonnage trucks in China at that time. This model was the Yellow River JN150, the earliest in China.

In May 1960, when Chairperson Mao Zedong visited Jinan, he visited the first batch of models of the Yellow River JN150 and spoke highly of it.

In January 1966, Chairperson Zhu De inspected the Yellow River JN150 model and personally wrote the word "Yellow River" for the car. This year, Jinan Automobile Manufacturing Factory was renamed Jinan Automobile Manufacturing General Factory, marking the beginning of a new historical stage.

Since the mid-late 1960s, our country has entered a period of serious turmoil. During this period, all aspects of the national economy have caused serious negative effects. But new progress has been made in major undertakings such as national defense.

In 1966, the Second Artillery Force of the People’s Liberation Army (later reorganized into the Rocket Force) began to develop missiles and supporting transport vehicles. The following year (1967), the Jinan Automobile Manufacturing Plant accepted the task of trial production of transport vehicles, and in April 1968 developed our country’s first generation of large-tonnage military off-road cargo vehicles – Yellow River JN252.

Since 1970, the JN252 has served and tested in some units of the People’s Liberation Army, and was officially mass-produced in 1976, making important contributions to the development of our country’s national defense weapons and equipment. In addition, this car has a wonderful relationship with Mr. Qian Xuesen, the "two bombs".

In the late 1970s, the turmoil ended and our country’s social development returned to the normal track. At the same time, Jinan Automobile Manufacturing General Factory also began to launch new models for the civilian automobile market.

In 1978, Jinan Automobile Manufacturing Plant introduced Romanian car technology and carried out localized production, and in 1981 launched the second generation of Yellow River civilian vehicles: the ten-ton truck JN162 series. The JN162 series used the new technology applied for the first time in China at that time, almost at the same starting point as the technical level of international advanced models at that time.

At the same time, the China Heavy Duty Truck Industry Joint Venture Company with Jinan Automobile Manufacturing Plant as the core was established and is one of the three major domestic automobile industry groups. In 1983, with the support of reform and opening up and national policies, the joint venture company introduced the technology of Austrian 91 series models and made them domestically.

In 1985, the first Steyr 91 series truck assembled in China rolled off the assembly line, ending the history that our country could not produce large-tonnage trucks. In 1989, the first domestically produced Steyr 91 series model rolled off the assembly line, opening the "Steyr" era of Chinese commercial vehicles.

In December 1989, China Heavy Duty Truck Industry Joint Venture Company officially changed its name to China Heavy Duty Truck Group Company, moving towards a new generation of modern enterprises and bringing new opportunities for the development of the Yellow River brand.

Since the 1990s, with the introduction of new models of international automobile brands into the Chinese market and the continuous introduction of new products by domestic friends, the two main car series of the Yellow River and Steyr relied on by the old heavy truck have been defeated in the increasingly severe market competition and lost their past. Under various reasons, the old heavy truck cannot escape the fate of bankruptcy.

In 2000, the bankruptcy and reorganization of China’s heavy truck group company was approved by the State Council, and the era of the old heavy truck ended.

After the bankruptcy and reorganization of the old heavy truck, there is good news: the original main assets of the old heavy truck have been devolved to Shandong Province, and continue to retain the name of "China heavy truck". The next good news is that Mr. Ma Chunji, then the deputy mayor of Jinan City, took over the "mess" and cleaned it up.

On January 18, 2001, after the successful reorganization, Sinotruk returned to the world as "China Heavy Duty Truck Group Co., Ltd.".

In 2002, the first batch of high-end model series based on Steyr technology was fully upgraded, which sent a heavy gift to the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Since then, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group has begun to move towards a new route of independent research and development.

Since 2003, SINOTRUK has successively carried out technical cooperation with German MAN and Swedish companies (with the latter to establish a joint venture company Jinan Huawo), and in 2004 launched a high-end heavy truck product with international advanced level: HOWALLE.

Of course, Yellow River’s brand equity has not been abandoned. In 2003, China National Heavy Duty Truck Corporation launched three Yellow River sub-brands: the "Yellow River" medium and large-tonnage model, the "medium-tonnage model" and the "Yellow River General" small-tonnage model. In today’s words, the Yellow River "medium cup, large cup, and super large cup".

However, these models did not make much progress in the market, forming a strong contrast with the majestic atmosphere of the Howo series Hukou waterfall of the Yellow River.

In 2007, China National Heavy Duty Truck (Hong Kong), a subsidiary of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. So far, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group has two listed companies, Jinan Truck and China National Heavy Duty Truck (Hong Kong).

In 2008, the first model of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group to test the high-end heavy truck market, the "Howo A7", was officially launched on the market. This was the first domestic truck with its own brand of hand-in-hand (AMT), and it was also the first commercial vehicle with a fully self-developed powertrain in China. Its performance has approached the technical level of foreign advanced models.

In July 2009, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group signed a cooperation agreement with German MAN, and German MAN held 25% + 1 shares of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, entering a new era of comprehensive cooperation. During the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show, China and Germany released a new high-end brand SITRAK, Chinese name ", and the first mass-produced model T7 is also known as the predecessor of the subsequent Howo T7H.

In 2012, the first standard product of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, Howo Light Truck, was officially launched, ending the gap in the light truck market competition of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group and opening a good start for China National Heavy Duty Truck Group to enter the light commercial vehicle market.

In addition, the Yellow River brand has returned to the market with a new line "New Yellow River", targeting the mid- to high-end mid- to large-tonnage lightweight truck market.

In August 2015, the new headquarters and science and technology building of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, located at No. 777 Huaao Road, High-tech Zone, Jinan City, was officially put into use, completing the comprehensive evolution of the R & D environment.

On September 1, 2018, Mr. Tan Xuguang from Weichai Group officially became the chairperson and party secretary of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group. The first thing he did when he came to power was to conduct a strategic reorganization within China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, divest and sell the real estate business (in fact, China National Heavy Duty Truck also has its own real estate business, but it is not outstanding compared to its main business), and make minor adjustments to personnel. There is only one key point: to attack the main business without distractions.

However, after Mr. Tan was launched, all the products of the four major brands of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group began to offer choices one after another. Many people expressed concerns about the homogeneity of the products of Heavy Duty Truck, and some people said that the market competitiveness of Heavy Duty Truck products after assembling Weichai engines would decline, but now it seems that there is no need to worry too much.

With the launch of the optional Weichai engine series and the new Howo, the main Weichai engine, Sinotruk has made great efforts in product adaptability.

The recently released new model of the Yellow River, AERO7 (X7), is the first to introduce the overall streamlined design in the domestic production models, making the X7’s drag coefficient reach the same level as that of passenger cars.

The powertrain is equipped with a variety of models such as the German technology M series and the H series with thermal efficiency up to 50%. It independently develops a hand-integrated gearbox and is specially adjusted for the Yellow River car series.

At the same time, the new model of the Yellow River has reached the level of foreign advanced technology in terms of configuration and safety performance. In terms of price, the new car is about 450,000 yuan to 500,000 yuan, which is quite competitive compared with foreign brands and domestic models.

From the Yellow River JN150 in the 1960s to today’s fully upgraded and glorious new Yellow River car, it has witnessed the remarkable years of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group over the past 60 years and the continuous development of China’s automobile industry over the past 70 years.

We look forward to the China National Heavy Duty Truck Group’s historical sedimentation and many advanced technologies, and the Yellow River brand with many high hopes can be like the Yellow River, galloping thousands of miles and creating greater brilliance.

The new model is produced by Jinan Truck Co., Ltd., a listed company under China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, and will be officially put on the market soon. You can pick up a small book and study it carefully. (Text/Kajia Number: Ledi who drives a truck)