GAC Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Co., Ltd. was an automobile manufacturing company headquartered in

Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...

, China. It is a 50:50

joint-venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

between the

GAC Group Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (GAC Group) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Guangzhou, Guangdong. Founded in 1954, it is currently the fifth largest automobile manufacturer in China, with 2.144 million sa ...

and

Stellantis Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation formed in 2021 on the basis of a 50–50 cross-border merger between the Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group. The comp ...

. The company was founded on 9 March 2010. Fiat agreed to invest an initial US$559 million in the venture.

History

Fiat and GAC signed a joint venture agreement in Rome on 6 July 2009, in the presence of Chinese President

Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, an ...

and Italian Prime Minister

Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...

. Construction of GAC Fiat facilities in Changsha began on 26 November 2009, with a groundbreaking ceremony attended by the Italian ambassador to China, the provincial leaders of Hunan and Guangdong, and city leaders of Changsha and Guangzhou. GAC Fiat Automobiles Co., Ltd. was incorporated on 9 March 2010. The Changsha assembly plant was officially opened on 28 June 2012, in a ceremony attended by Fiat chief executive

Sergio Marchionne Sergio Marchionne (; 17 June 1952 – 25 July 2018) was an Italian-Canadian businessman, widely known for his turnarounds of the automakers Fiat and Chrysler, his business acumen and his outspoken and often frank approach, especially when dealing ...

and representatives of Hunan and Guandong provinces. In January 2013, it was announced that GAC Fiat would be also expanded to include Chrysler, and that, GAC Fiat would construct a new assembly plant in Guangzhou for the production of

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Moto ...

products. In January 2015, GAC Fiat was renamed as GAC Fiat Chrysler. In January 2022, Stellantis announced a plan to take a 75% majority stake of the joint venture. GAC quickly responded that no formal agreement to change the joint venture had been signed. In July 2022, Stellantis announced that due to a lack of progress in its attempt to take a greater stake in the company, it was terminating the joint venture with GAC. Stellantis planned to shut down local production operations and move towards importing Jeep vehicles to the Chinese market. Later that year, the joint venture filed for bankruptcy.

Operations

GAC Fiat has facilities in Changsha, with an annual production capacity of 140,000 cars and 220,000 engines, covering around 700,000 m². Vehicle production began in June 2012, with the

Fiat Viaggio The Dodge Dart is a front-engine, front-wheel drive, four-door compact sedan that was manufactured and marketed by then FCA US LLC, a subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. The automobile made its debut at the 2012 North American Internatio ...

four-door sedan. Later, the company started to manufacture the Ottimo (the

hatchback A hatchback is a car body configuration with a rear door that swings upward to provide access to a cargo area. Hatchbacks may feature fold-down second row seating, where the interior can be reconfigured to prioritize passenger or cargo volume. ...

version of the Viaggio). In October 2013, GAC Fiat announced the construction of a second manufacturing plant in Guangzhou. In November 2014, Fiat Chrysler and GAC expanded their partnership to produce Jeep vehicles. The Changsha plant began assembling the

Jeep Cherokee The Jeep Cherokee is a line of SUVs manufactured and marketed by Jeep over five generations. Originally marketed as a variant of the Jeep Wagoneer, the Cherokee has evolved from a full-size SUV to one of the first compact SUVs and into its curr ...

in October 2015 and the Guangzhou plant began assembling the

Jeep Renegade The Jeep Renegade is a subcompact crossover SUV produced by Stellantis under their Jeep marque. It was first shown to the public in March 2014 at the Geneva Motor Show#2014, Geneva Motor Show and production started in late August of that year. , ...

in April 2016. In late 2016, the Guangzhou plant began assembling the

Jeep Compass The Jeep Compass is a compact crossover SUV introduced for the 2007 model year, and is currently in its second generation. The first generation Compass and Patriot, its rebadged variant, were among Jeep's first crossover SUVs. The second-generat ...

. In 2018, the Changsha plant began manufacturing the

Jeep Grand Commander The Jeep Grand Commander (project code: ''K8'') is a mid-size crossover SUV with three-row seating manufactured by Jeep through the GAC-Stellantis, GAC Fiat Chrysler joint venture in China from 2018 to 2022. Overview Previewed by the Yuntu Co ...

Former production

File:Fiat Viaggio 01 China 2013-03-03.jpg, 2012–2017
菲亚特菲翔
Fiat Viaggio File:Fiat Ottimo 2 China 2016-03-29.jpg, 2014–2017
菲亚特致悦
Fiat Ottimo File:Jeep Cherokee KL facelift 02 China 2019-03-28.jpg, 2015–2022
吉普自由光 (K4)
Jeep Cherokee (K4) File:Jeep Renegade -- Auto China -- 2014-04-23.jpg, 2016–2022
吉普自由侠 (BQ)
Jeep Renegade (BQ) File:Jeep Compass II China 2017-03-31.jpg, 2016–2022
吉普指南者 (M4/553)
Jeep Compass (M4/553) File:Jeep Grand Commander 01 China 2019-03-28.jpg, 2018–2022
吉普大指挥官 (K8)
Jeep Grand Commander

Sales figures

By year

By model

Fiat Ottimo The Dodge Dart is a front-engine, front-wheel drive, four-door compact sedan that was manufactured and marketed by then FCA US LLC, a subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. The automobile made its debut at the 2012 North American Internat ...

: 40,002 *

: 134,496 *

: 253,045 *

: 215,160 *

: 43,039 *

: 91,011

References

External links

* {{Automotive industry in the People's Republic of China 2010 establishments in China 2022 disestablishments in China Car manufacturers of China Manufacturing companies based in Hunan Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of China Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2010 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2022 GAC Group joint ventures Stellantis Chinese-foreign joint-venture companies Companies based in Changsha