Recently, the "Announcement on Road Motor Vehicle Production Enterprises and Products" (Batch 408), issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, revealed that eight well-established automakers—FAW Xiali, Brilliance Auto (domestic brands), Zotye, Leopaard, Lifan, Huatai, BAIC Yinxiang (HuanSu), and Old Haima—have been officially removed from the list of manufacturing enterprises. Their vehicle production qualifications have been permanently revoked and rendered invalid. This signifies that they will no longer be permitted to produce or sell new complete vehicles, effectively marking their permanent delisting.

These brands once boasted remarkable achievements and enjoyed a vast user base in the Chinese automotive market, particularly during the heyday of fuel-powered vehicles.

▲ FAW Xiali: Once synonymous with the "national family car," it dominated domestic sedan sales for 18 consecutive years and held a significant market share in Beijing's taxi industry.

▲ Zotye Auto: Rapidly gained prominence through imitation design and low-price strategies, selling 330,000 units in 2016. Its SR9 model sparked controversy due to its striking resemblance to a Porsche, earning it the nickname "Porstye."

▲ Leopaard Auto: With a military background, its rugged off-road vehicles served as official vehicles and remained popular in the market for an extended period.

▲ Lifan, Huatai, BAIC HuanSu, Haima, etc.: Primarily relied on low-price strategies to achieve substantial sales in third- and fourth-tier cities and lower-tier markets, becoming the first cars for many families.

However, these long-standing automakers, which accompanied countless Chinese consumers through the golden age of fuel-powered vehicles, have ultimately exited the historical stage. They leave behind shared automotive memories for a generation and serve as a poignant footnote in the development of China's automotive industry.

Analyzing the root causes of these automakers' decline, reliance on imitation, assembly-line production, and low-price volume sales, coupled with a neglect of R&D and quality control, were the core factors. Early on, these brands quickly entered the market with a low-price positioning, capturing a share of the lower-tier markets. However, insufficient long-term R&D investment and lax product quality control led to slow model updates, frequent minor vehicle issues, and a deteriorating user reputation.

As the automotive market entered a new phase of inventory competition, leading brands lowered their prices, intensifying fierce competition among both new and established brands. The price advantages that these brands once relied on for survival completely vanished, ultimately leaving them stranded by the tide of the times.

Moreover, most of these automakers had long ceased production, resulting in wasted resources due to their occupied production qualifications. This concentrated removal is a measure to implement policies aimed at eliminating outdated production capacity and optimizing the industrial layout.

At the same time, the lessons learned from these eight automakers serve as a cautionary tale for the development of China's automotive industry. They remind all practitioners that only by anchoring technological innovation and keeping pace with industrial transformation can they go further in the competitive market where only the fittest survive.

Note: "Brilliance Auto (domestic brands)" specifically refers to the domestic passenger vehicle segment of Brilliance Group (brands like Zhonghua) and does not involve the Brilliance BMW joint venture. "Old Haima" refers to the traditional domestic passenger vehicle production entity of Haima Automobile, which still exists as a corporate entity and has shifted its focus towards overseas exports and commercial vehicle business.