Automotive industry in Tseng

The automotive industry in Tseng is the 20th largest in the world in terms of automobile unit production.

History
It's unknown when the first car in Tseng was bought, but by the 1920s automobiles were starting to become commonplace in Tseng. However, only Europeans could afford to buy cars. Popular automoblie brands in the early-mid 20th century were American and European cars, like Ford, MG, Citroën and Chrysler.

During Japanese rule, Western cars were illegal and destroyed.

Shortly after Tsengian independence in 1946, Western cars returned. GM and Volkswagen established branches in Tseng in the 1950s, and Japanese cars appeared on Tsengian streets as well, however it wasn't until the 80s and 90s that they would become widespread.

In 1970, Fuxing Motor Company was founded, and their cars became very popular. Fuxing was the first Tsengian car company to be noticed in East Asia.

Starting in the 1980s and 1990s, Japanese cars experienced a surge in popularity. Several Western manufacturers were forced to close Tsengian branches due to the dominance of Japanese automakers in Tseng. By 2000, only eight Western manufacturers - Volkswagen Group, PSA, MG Rover Group, DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company, BMW, Renault and GM - had branches in Tseng. Aside from the Japanese automakers and the remaining western manufacturers, the Russian automaker AvtoVAZ, El Kadsreian automaker Takusa-Yakisu and Korean automakers Hyundai, Kia and Daewoo thrived in Tseng.

Recently, Chinese cars have entered the Tsengian market, albeit with many restrictions. Popular Chinese marquees in Tseng include Geely, Baojun, Wuling, Chery and Great Wall.

Current

 * Fuxing
 * Yungmo
 * Zhaoling Motors
 * Kuang Motors

Lada Riva / VAZ 2105
The Lada Riva / VAZ 2105 began as a modernized and restyled version of the original Lada type VAZ-2101 Zhiguli saloon, which was introduced in 1970 in the Soviet Union as a modified license copy of the Fiat 124. VAZ began development work on the facelift version as early as 1975, and the first prototypes were built in 1977, although it would not be until 1983 - three years after its release in the Soviet Union - that the car was made available in Western European markets.

In 1984, the El Kadsreian Oil & Energy Corporation (then Vlokoil) started Lada Automobiles Co. Ltd. to import and market the Lada range in Tseng. Despite it's Soviet origins at a time of mass anti-communist activities in Tseng, the Lada Riva 2105 model was quickly accepted by Tsengians as a comfortable and affordable car with easy maintenance. By 1987, Vlokoil built a plant in Pushan to build the Riva 2105 locally from knock-down kits prepared at the AvtoVAZ factory in the Soviet city of Tolyatti, before upgrading to proper, completely Tsengian-based production in 1990.

The Riva 2105 remains one of the most popular choices for city taxi cab drivers in Tseng. The Riva 2105 is one of the longest-running cars in terms of consecutive years sold in Tseng (close to 35 years), ended only by concerns over crash safety and emissions.

Volkswagen Golf
In 1976, the Volkswagen Golf Mk1 was launched in Tseng, becoming an overnight success. It was easy and economical to drive with exceptionally good handling compared to other small hatchbacks of the time. It was also easy and inexpensive to maintain, just like Volkswagen's already-successful Beetle. By 1983, Volkswagen had reclaimed the spot of Tseng's best-selling car brand from Fuxing thanks in part to the Golf Mk1's success.

In 1984, the Golf Mk2 was released, with the Golf Mk1 becoming the Volkswagen Golf Classic. The Golf Classic later received a facelift largely inspired by the South African-made (a Citi Golf had been shipped to Tseng for use as a reference by VW Tseng). When the Golf Mk3 was released in 1992, the Golf Mk2 was renamed to the Volkswagen Golf Traveler. By 1997, when the Mk3 Golf was due to be replaced in Tseng by the Mk4, Tseng was the only country in the world where the Mk1, Mk2 and Mk3 Golfs were being sold at the same time. The Mk3 Golf was replaced by the Mk4 Golf in late-1998, and the Golf Traveler was discontinued in 2000, but the Golf Mk1/Golf Classic was still being offered afterwards due to its high sales. The Golf Classic sold well until the 2007 model, which was the year it was discontinued and replaced with the Chinese-built (the Citi Golf, the only other Mk1 variant in production, would be discontinued a year later in 2009).

Nissan Sentra
In 1983, the Nissan Sentra B11 was launched in Tseng. It sold well, so Nissan built a plant in Huanzhou to manufacture the car locally.

In 1991, the Nissan Sentra B13 was introduced to Tseng. The car showed off a new design, which did not appeal initially to Tsengians, but advertising slogans such as "這不是改變. 这是进化. " (It's not change. It's evolution.) resulted in a quick change of opinion, and for the first time, the Sentra had become the most popular car in Tseng. The car's success was such that it was not replaced in 1995 by the Sentra B14, with the B13 being renamed the "Nissan Sentra City" while the B14 adopted the Sentra name, as a result the B13 continued to be sold in Tseng.

In 1999, the B15 was introduced as the Nissan Sunny. The B16 replaced the B15 in 2007, still being sold under the Sunny name. As of 2009, Tseng was the only country in the world where the B13, B14 and B16 Sentras were being sold at the same time. The B14 Sentra stopped being sold in 2011 in anticipation of the B16-based Sunny's replacement with the B17 Sentra, but the B13 Sentra was still offered and sold very well until the 2014 model year, when it was replaced by the new Nissan Sunny, a badge-engineered Dacia Logan, for 2015.

Škoda Octavia
In 1997, Volkswagen Group launched the Škoda Octavia in Tseng, with little expectations. However, the car quickly began picking up success thanks to well-received advertising campaigns, frugal engine choices (diesel, ethanol and gasoline) and positive word-of-mouth. The family car quickly became Tseng's second-best-selling car behind the Nissan Sentra City. It was also the first Škoda model to be built locally in Tseng by the Volkswagen Group factory in Huanzhou (previous Škoda models had been imported to Tseng from Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic).

Volkswagen Passat
The Volkswagen Passat entered the Tsengian car market in 1974, during the Wanxia Miracle. It was a massive success, soon becoming a status symbol in Tseng. The Passat B1 was briefly the second-best selling car in Tseng after the Fuxing N50. As a result, the Passat B1 began to be manufactured locally in Volkswagen's Huanzhou plant by late 1975 to 1979. Like most European cars in Tseng however, by the 1980s sales dipped due to the emergence of Japan's auto manufacturers, with sales only really starting to improve by the late-1990s. Nevertheless, the B1 Passat has become a symbol of nostalgia of the glory days of the Wanxia Miracle.

Eagle (Chrysler) Talon
The Eagle Talon, released in Tseng as the Chrysler Talon, launched in Tseng in 1992 with low expectations. However, the car became successful as young people loved driving the Talon, along with the Toyota Celica T200 and Honda NSX NA1, at extremely high speeds on the highways. During the years 1993 to 1996, the Talon was the only car sold by Western manufacturers in the top 10 best selling cars in Tseng, being the 4th at one point. Despite this, in 1994 President Julius Han considered banning the three cars due to a high amount of car accidents and deaths involving these three, but he introduced more traffic safety regulations and laws instead. The Talon eventually stopped production in Tseng by 1997 due to declining sales and Han's new laws.

Volkswagen Type 1 (Beetle)
The Volkswagen Beetle, known locally as Jiachong (甲蟲) entered Tseng in 1954 and production of the Beetle in Tseng began in 1956. It was a popular car due to its reliability and engine, and was ubiquitous on Tsengian streets in the late 50s and early 60s. However, the Beetle began to decline during the Luanzheng Era. The communist government of Frederik Bao denounced the Beetle as a symbol of "westernization", and forced the assembly plant of the Beetle to close in December 1962. After Paul Zhang took over as president, he decided to reopen the assembly plant to help lessen Tseng's economic troubles. For a while the Beetle sales started to climb again, and the Beetle remained in production for the rest of the Era, barring a brief period during the Tsengian military junta wherein the plant was closed a second time. However, the Wanxia Miracle caused competition from other manufacturers, and sales slumped. The Beetle remained in production in Tseng until 1984, and again from 1987 to 2001.

Toyota FJ Cruiser
The Toyota FJ Cruiser entered the Tsengian car market in May 2011, following its entry in the Japanese market in December 2010. Although it was mainly used as a family car for families in western Tseng, the FJ Cruiser became successful in eastern Tseng as the terrain is mountainous and uneven. The FJ Cruiser, along with other off-road mid-size SUVs like the Hummer H1, was used for delivering goods and supplies to remote indigenous communities when pickup trucks or semis couldn't. The FJ Crusier is still sold in Tseng to this day, but has been losing ground to competitors.

MG HS
The MG HS was released in Tseng on March 2, 2020. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 lockdown began in Tseng and sales weren't good. It wasn't until summer 2021, with restrictions being relaxed, that MG HS sales started taking off, with families going on road trips and vacations. This resulted in SAIC re-releasing it again in August 2022. It was one of the ten-best selling family cars in Tseng in 2021.

About a year later, the MG Pilot was released in Tseng on August 1, 2022.

Wuling Almaz/Chevrolet Captiva
The Baojun 530, released in Tseng as the Wuling Almaz (mainly in southern Tseng) and the Chevrolet Captiva (mainly in northern Tseng), entered the Tsengian car market in January 2020. TBA