Changan’s Deepal confirms plan to use former Hyundai Chongqing plant in 2.28 billion USD deal
Reports emerged that the Beijing Hyundai Motor Company (Beijing Hyundai) Chongqing plant has been transferred to Changan’s Deepal Automobile Technology Co., Ltd. The factory was sold for 16.2 billion yuan (approximately 2.28 billion USD). Deepal said it has a “plan” for using the facility but has not disclosed which model will be built or when production will begin.
The Chongqing plant, formerly Beijing Hyundai’s fifth full-vehicle production facility in China, broke ground in 2015 and entered production in August 2017. It covers around 1.87 million square metres, with an initial investment of 7.75 billion yuan (around 1.09 billion USD), and a designed annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles. The factory has been idle since December 2021.
The disposal process stretched across several public listings. The plant was first offered in August 2023 with a floor price of 3.68 billion yuan (about 517 million USD), but the listing attracted no buyers. A second listing reduced the price to 2.58 billion yuan (around 363 million USD), followed by a third at 1.917 billion yuan (about 270 million USD). The final transfer totalled 1.62 billion yuan (about 2.28 billion USD). The buyer was Chongqing Liangjiang New Area Yufu Industrial Park Construction Investment Co., Ltd., a state-controlled entity under the Chongqing Liangjiang New Area administration.
Deepal currently operates major production facilities in Nanjing and Beijing. Adding the Chongqing site is expected to expand its manufacturing footprint. In October 2024, Deepal recorded 36,792 sales, with cumulative volume for January–October rising 57.1% year-on-year. The Deepal S05 crossover exceeded 20,000 global sales in October. The company stated that the Chongqing plant completed rebranding in late October, though production has not yet started.
Industry observers view the transfer as part of a broader adjustment in China’s automotive production landscape, where domestic EV brands are increasingly taking over idled joint-venture factories. The move also aligns with Changan Automobile’s long-term capacity planning, which has set a production target of five million units annually across its brands.
