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 and vehicles, powertrains, luxury yacht and automotive parts. Headquartered in Weifang, 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, construction machinery, marine power, agriculture machinery and power generation. Thanks to its subsidiaries, it also provides transporting equipment, buses, luxury yachts and hydraulics 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, 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 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 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 (including engines, transmissions and axles), 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 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, the luxury yachts Italian Group, in order to acquire 75% of its stake.