BAIC Group

BAIC Group (officially Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., Ltd.) is a Chinese state-owned enterprise and holding company of several automobile and machine manufacturers located in Beijing, China, founded in 1958.

Its principal subsidiaries include the passenger car maker Beijing Motor; military vehicle and light truck maker BAW; and truck, bus, and agricultural equipment maker, Foton Motor. BAIC also makes Hyundai and Mercedes-branded cars for sale on the Chinese market through the Beijing Hyundai and Beijing Benz joint ventures (of BAIC Motor).

It is often ranked as the fifth or fourth-largest Chinese automaker by volume and boasts several successful passenger-car joint ventures with foreign firms. However, unlike peers such as SAIC Motor, a significant proportion of BAIC's output is agricultural, commercial, and military vehicles.

BAIC was originally founded in 1958 as Beijing Automobile Works (BAW), which found success producing the Dongfanghong BJ760, a vehicle based on the Soviet GAZ-21.

BAIC was one of the top ten most-productive Chinese automakers in 2010. This may be due to subsidiary Beijing Automobile Works and a sustained surge of popularity for Beijing Hyundai products. It reached fifth place by selling nearly 1.5 millions units garnering a market share of more than 8%. 2011 production of 1.5 million whole vehicles made BAIC the fifth largest vehicle-maker in China that year in terms of units manufactured. BAIC remained fifth in 2012, which saw the company make 1.7 million whole vehicles; 30% of production was commercial or heavy-duty products.

BAIC has a wide product line that includes more than the buses that are its traditional manufacture. Offerings encompass many kinds of commercial vehicles, including: agricultural machinery, construction machinery, light trucks, and military vehicles, etc. As of 2010, commercial vehicle production capacity is estimated to be around 700,000 units per year. Production capacity figures may consider engines and vehicles as discrete.

The company sells self-branded consumer products in addition to joint-venture developed vehicles under the brands of foreign manufacturers Hyundai Motor Company and the Mercedes-Benz Group. BAIC-branded military and civilian light trucks have also been produced.