FAW Tianjin - History

History

Tianjin's first product, debuting in 1965, was a copy of the famous Beijing Jeep called the Tianjin TJ210. Between 1973 and 1979 the Toyota look-alike Tianjin TJ740 was also built, although only 63 were finished. In 1980, Tianjin's directors decided to look abroad for a joint venture to enable them to build modern small cars. In 1983, Daihatsu had been chosen as a partner, and in November 1984 the first vehicle rolled out from the works. At first, local parts content was a mere 8%, but this had jumped to 85% by the end of 1987.

Before the Toyota joint venture, Tianjin produced the Tianjin Xiali TJ730 (based on the 1983 Daihatsu Charade) and then the TJ7100-TJ7131 hatchback and TJ7100U-TJ7131U sedan. Xiali (夏利) is Chinese for "Charade". The TJ7100-series cars, based on the 1987 Charade, are still very popular in China as taxicabs although they are gradually being replaced by larger Volkswagen and Hyundai cars. Nonetheless, production of the Daihatsu based Xiali N3 and A+ series continue today. Production at the Tianjin Xiali plant has now shifted to more modern Toyota vehicles, for example the Xiali 2000 is based on the Toyota Platz/Vitz. Toyota also builds and sells vehicles in China under its own brand.

Since 1984, another subsidiary of First Automobile Works (Tianjin Huali Motor Company) had manufactured Hijet-based Daihatsu mini trucks in China rebranded as Huali Dafa. Currently Huali offers the first generation Daihatsu Terios and first generation Daihatsu Move.

FAW Tianjin also produces the Miles ZX40, an electric version of the Daihatsu Move which became the first Chinese-built vehicle sold in the United States when it was offered in mid-2006 by Miles Automotive Group.