Weichai Holding Group Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese state-owned enterprise specialized in the design, manufacturing and sale of diesel engines. The company operates on four different business sectors which are

engines An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power g ...

and

vehicles A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), ...

powertrains A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...

luxury yacht A superyacht or megayacht is a large and luxurious pleasure vessel. There are no official or agreed upon definitions for such yachts, but these terms are regularly used to describe professionally crewed motor or sailing yachts, ranging from to ...

and automotive parts. Headquartered in

Weifang Weifang () is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The city borders Dongying to the northwest, Zibo to the west, Linyi to the southwest, Rizhao to the south, Qingdao to the east, and looks out to the ...

, Shandong Province, China, the Weichai Group is holding more than 80 subsidiaries set throughout China and overseas. The group offers products, services and technologies for

commercial vehicles A commercial vehicle is any type of motor vehicle used for transporting goods or paying passengers. The United States defines a "commercial motor vehicle" as any self-propelled or towed vehicle used on a public highway in interstate commerce to t ...

construction machinery Heavy equipment or heavy machinery refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large construction tasks. ''Heavy equipment'' usually comprises five e ...

marine power Marine energy or marine power (also sometimes referred to as ocean energy, ocean power, or marine and hydrokinetic energy) refers to the energy carried by ocean waves, tides, salinity, and ocean temperature differences. The movement of water in ...

, agriculture machinery and power generation. Thanks to its subsidiaries, it also provides transporting equipment, buses, luxury yachts and

hydraulics Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...

products. Having more than 35 offices and 245 authorized services stations through the world, Weichai products are sold in approximately 110 countries.

Group History

From the origins to 2007

Weichai, formerly known as Yucheng Ironworks, was founded in 1946 in

Weihai Weihai (), formerly called Weihaiwei (), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport in easternmost Shandong province. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east, and is the closest Chinese city to South Korea. Weihai's popul ...

, Shandong Province, China. Based on this company, the ministry of People's Armed Forces of Weihai established Jianguo Ironwork Cooperatives which was later renamed Coastal Ironworks. It mainly manufactured 79-type rifles and repaired steamboats. It is two years later that Coastal Ironworks moved to Weifang, where they started to manufacture 15 hp and 40 hp low-speed diesel engines. At the same time, the company was renamed Dahua Machinery Factory. In 1953, the company successfully launched the 6108 series diesel engine and was renationalized into the fourth Mechanical Industry Bureau in the first Ministry of Machine-Building Industry. The same year, it was renamed Weifang Diesel Engine Works and started research, development and production of diesel engines. From 1955, the Czech 6160 diesel engine was successfully trial-manufactured and became the dominant engine model for China's coastal fishing and inland shipping. Ten years later, Weichai was named one of the seventy “Daqing-Type” enterprises, a famous national denomination in terms of industrial production. In 1968, the 6200

marine diesel engine Marine propulsion is the mechanism or system used to generate thrust to move a watercraft through water. While paddles and sails are still used on some smaller boats, most modern ships are propelled by mechanical systems consisting of an electri ...

was developed and manufactured for light fishing vessels. In 1970, the National Defense Industry requested Weichai to develop and produce the 8V160 type tank engine. Weichai R&D team successfully developed an 800 hp tank engine and won, in 1978, the National Science Conference Prize. In 1984, the Austrian heavy-duty vehicle engine Steyr WD615 was introduced. WD615 passed the national-level project acceptance certification in 1989, establishing a new pattern of parallel development of both medium and high-speed diesel engines for the factory. Faced to a serious situation in 1998, the new management team made “Three commitments» to lead the company to implement the “Three One-Thirds” Property Reforms through innovation which included labor, personnel, and compensation. Weichai got its activity fields more diversified in 2000. Indeed, China's Modern Power and Construction Engineering Coordination Seminar, held in Weifang, identified Weichai's WD615 engine as the new-generation product for construction machinery.

Weichai Power Weichai Power Co., Ltd is a developer and manufacturer of diesel engines with headquarters in Weifang, Shandong in the People's Republic of China. It also manufactures forklifts and non-diesel engine automotive parts. History Weichai Power was ...

Co., Ltd. () was incorporated in 2002. Two years later, the latter was listed on the Hong-Kong stock exchange, starting a new step of International capital development for the company. Weichai Power possesses a full industry chain of

power systems An electric power system is a network of electrical components deployed to supply, transfer, and use electric power. An example of a power system is the electrical grid that provides power to homes and industries within an extended area. The ...

(including

, transmissions and

axles An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearin ...

), heavy vehicles, automobile electronics and parts. In 2005, Weichai launched the Euro III “Landking” series engines: WP10 and WP12, which are China's first Euro III diesel engines. In the same year, Weichai Power acquired Torch Automobile Group Co., Ltd. (), allowing Weichai to own, among others, heavy-duty trucks, transmissions, and axles. In 2006, Weichai Power formed the “International Strategic Alliance” with companies in the industry such as Foton, BOSCH and AVL , in order to explore new approaches for product innovation. In 2007, Weichai Power was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, creating the first domestic case of an “H to A” innovative capital operation. At the same time, Weichai Heavy Machinery, formerly Shandong Juli, was re-listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The latter is covering large, medium and small whole series of marine power and power generation equipment.

Overseas mergers and acquisitions

In January 2009, Weichai's

acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

started with Société Internationale des Moteurs Baudouin, a French company who designs and manufactures marine engines. Then, in July 2012, Weichai Group signed a strategic cooperation agreement with

Ferretti Group Ferretti S.p.A. (trading as Ferretti Group) is an Italian multinational shipbuilding company headquartered in Forlì which specialises in the design, construction and sale of luxury motor yachts. Its products are sold under the brands Ferretti ...

, the luxury yachts Italian Group, in order to acquire 75% of its stake. In September 2012, Weichai Power, also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the

KION Group Kion Group AG (styled as KION Group) is a German multinational manufacturer of materials handling equipment, with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. Its principal products are intralogistics, warehouse automation equipment, and indus ...

, in order to acquire 25% of the KION Group's shares and 70% of the shares of KION's subsidiary, Linde Hydraulics.

Today

In 2013, Weichai Power became a global sponsor of the Ferrari F1 team under a 4-year-contract strategic alliance. Since 2005, Weichai cooperates with several Chinese Universities: Shandong University, Tianjin University, Tongli University, Tsinghua University, Jilin University, and Zhejiang University with the goal of developing advanced technologies and applications into industrialization. Currently, Weichai Group owns many well-known brands in China and overseas, getting, in this way, several market advantages. Totally, it has six global operations centers located overseas:

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

in Germany,

Forlì Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna. The city is situated along the Via ...

in Italy,

Cassis Cassis (; Occitan: ''Cassís'') is a commune situated east of Marseille in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, whose coastline is known in English as the French Riviera, in Southern France. In 201 ...

in France,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in the United States,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, and

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

in India, which are all running testing centers and Research and Development platforms.

Future

“Green Power, International Weichai” is the current mission of Weichai. The company focuses on controlling the entire industry chain to care about the

environment Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, all living and non-living things occurring naturally * Biophysical environment, the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism or ...

and integrating all resources to play on the global scene. Moreover, the customers’ satisfaction is a big part in the Weichai's development program. In more concrete terms, Weichai aims in the next several years to achieve a sales income of 200 billion of yuan and to be in the World Top 500 Enterprises.

Weichai’s Brands

Weichai holds several well-known brands in China. In 2015, hereinafter is the list of Weichai's brands: Weichai Power Co., Ltd. (HK2338, SZ000338), founded in 2002 and headquartered in

, Shandong Province, China, its core activities are

powertrain A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...

(engines, transmissions and axles), vehicle engines,

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...

control and auto parts. Shaanxi Heavy-duty Motor Co. Ltd., or SHACMAN (), founded in 1968 and headquartered in Xi’An,

Shaanxi Province Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), Ni ...

, China, it manufactures

, especially heavy duty-trucks. Shaanxi Fast Auto Drive Group Company, or Fast (), founded in 1968 (formerly Shaanxi Auto Gear General Works), and headquartered in Xi’An,

, China, mainly manufactures heavy-duty, auto transmissions, auto gears, forgings and castings. Shaanxi HANDE Axle Co., Ltd.()was jointly invested and built up by Weichai Power Co., Ltd. and Shaanxi Automobile Group Co., Ltd. in 2003. Headquartered in Xi’An,

, China, it is mainly manufacturing axles. Shantui is a Chinese manufacturer of construction equipment, the main product of which is bulldozers. The company is known as Bulldozer king in China, manufacturer of 40% bulldozers in 2006. the Company plans to become the largest bulldozer manufacturer, making them more than 10,000 units that year or 2 of the 5 tracked bulldozers in the world. Yangzhou Asiastar Bus Co., Ltd. (), founded in 1949, possesses two production bases located in

Yangzhou Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north ...

and

Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an ...

, China. It is manufacturing many various types of

coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

: intercity buses, school buses, high-end sightseeing buses, urban buses, private coaches, luxury caravans, special vehicles and other environment-friendly buses. Weichai Power Yangzhou Diesel Engine Co., Ltd. () recombined with

in 2009, is located in Yangte River Delta, China. It is manufacturing diesel engines mainly used in light trucks and light buses, low speed trucks, self-unloading trucks, croppers, etc. Zhuzhou Gear Co., Ltd. (), founded in 1958, headquartered in Hunan Province, China, is working on R&D, manufacturing and sales of drive axle gears, transmissions, transfer cases and reduction boxes. Zhuzhou Torch Spark Plugs Co., Ltd. (), has been created in 1961, and is located in

Zhuzhou Zhuzhou (, ), formerly Jianning (建宁), is a prefecture-level city of Hunan Province, China, straddling the Xiang River southeast of the provincial capital, Changsha, and bordering Jiangxi province to the east. It is part of the " Greater Chan ...

, Hunan Province, China. Torch Spark Plugs brand can be used for automotive, motorcycles, small gasoline engines, special industrial

spark plugs A spark plug (sometimes, in British English, a sparking plug, and, colloquially, a plug) is a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/air ...

...

Weichai (Chongqing) Automotive Co., Ltd. Weichai (Chongqing) Automotive () is the subsidiary company wholly owned by Weichai Power Co., Ltd. since 2012. Overview Weichai (Chongqing) Automotive was formerly named Chongqing Jialing Chuanjiang Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd, and was ...

(潍柴（重庆）汽车有限公司), is the subsidiary company wholly owned by Weichai Power Co., Ltd. since 2012, formerly named Chongqing Jialing Chuanjiang Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd, headquartered in Chongqing, China. It is a large automobile manufacturing enterprise, which is qualified to produce M1, M2, M3, N1, N2, N3 series vehicle. Weichai Heavy Machinery Co., Ltd. (), has been restructured by Weichai Holding Group Co., Ltd in 2006. The company develops, manufactures and sells marine power and power generation equipments, medium-speed and high-speed diesel engines, generator sets and integrated power systems. Société Internationale des Moteurs Baudouin headquartered in

, France, created in 1918, is the power generation specialist for the marine and inland shipping industry. Weichai Power acquired Moteurs Baudouin in 2009.

is an Italian multinational

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...

company, founded in 1968, which owns eight

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

brands. Weichai Group signed a strategic restructuration agreement with Ferretti Company in 2012 and obtained 75% of its shares. Linde Hydraulics Ltd., founded in 1904, based in

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the Aschaffenburg (district), district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative sea ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, is a global developer and supplier of modular drive systems consisting of hydraulics, electrical engineering and electronics. In 2012, Weichai Power agreed to acquire a 25% stake in

and a 70% majority stake in KION's hydraulics business.

Businesses

The company operates on four different business sectors: Powertrain: Weichai focuses on engines but also on other parts as transmissions,

, or generating sets for different applications: high-speed light-duty engines, high-speed medium-duty engines, high-speed heavy-duty engines, medium-speed diesel engines, low-speed diesel engines. The main targeted markets include

trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

, buses, construction machinery, marine power, power generation, and agriculture machinery... Vehicles and engines: Subsidiaries as Shacman, AsiaStar, or Shengda Special Vehicles provide Weichai with different vehicles market: Heavy duty automobile, coaches, special vehicles, and commercial vehicles. Key components: Thanks to its subsidiaries, Linde Hydraulics, Torch Sparks Plugs, Zhuzhou Gear, etc., Weichai Power provides different auto parts including

parts,

gears A gear is a rotating circular machine part having cut teeth or, in the case of a cogwheel or gearwheel, inserted teeth (called ''cogs''), which mesh with another (compatible) toothed part to transmit (convert) torque and speed. The basic p ...

, piston pins, auto lamps... Luxury Yachts: Founded in 1968, Italian Ferretti Group is a luxury yachts manufacturer, and owns the following yacht brands: Ferretti Yachts, Pershing, Itama, Riva, Mochi Craft, CRN, Custom Line. In order to build a Blue Economic Zone in the Shandong Peninsula, Weichai Group signed a strategic restructuration agreement with Ferretti Company in January 2012, and obtained 75% of the shares of New Ferretti Company for a price of 374 million Euros.

Awards

Thanks to a rapid development, Weichai won several national prices: * "National Quality Award", 2007 * "National Innovative Enterprise", 2009 * "National Demonstration Base of Enterprise Culture", 2011 * "Chinese Industry Award", 2011 * "National In-depth Integration Model of information technology and industrialization", 2012

References

External links

Weichai Heavy Machinery Co., Ltd.

Weichai Holding Group Co., Ltd. Official Website
{{authority control Auto parts suppliers of China Manufacturing companies established in 1946 Chinese brands Government-owned companies of China Companies based in Shandong Chinese companies established in 1946