Changan

Changan is an automotive brand associated with China. Its commonly cited modern founding or brand-launch year is 1862, and its headquarters or principal operating base is in Chongqing. Understanding that background is important because some names began as independent companies, while others were created later as specialist marques within larger automotive groups. Changan traces its origins to the Shanghai Foreign Gun Bureau founded in 1862, although its modern automotive activity developed much later. Vehicle production began in the twentieth century, and Changan became one of China’s major state-owned automotive manufacturers with its principal base in Chongqing. The company has built passenger cars, commercial vehicles and engines, while international design and engineering centres strengthened its global development capability. Its long institutional history is much older than most Chinese passenger-car brands.