Changan’s Chongqing facilities offer a glimpse into the future of automotive manufacturing
Changan Automobile took us to their production campus in Chongqing, China, and the scale of the facility was immediately striking. Set within a city often described as cyberpunk in real life, where elevated highways slice through skyscrapers, trains pass through residential towers, and neon-lit skylines rise from the riverbanks. Chongqing feels like a place where the future is already unfolding. Inside the factory, we were given rare access to film and photograph every major section of the plant, from stamping and welding to final assembly. What we witnessed was a fully automated production ecosystem where hundreds of robots worked in seamless coordination, each movement precise and calculated. In many ways, the factory mirrors the city itself: complex, layered, and relentlessly modern. It is a reflection of how deeply advanced technology and forward thinking are embedded in Changan’s manufacturing DNA.
Changan is recognized as one of China’s “big four” state-owned automakers, with deep roots tracing back to the 19th century and decades of modern automobile manufacturing expertise. Today, Changan’s global footprint is enormous as it operates 76 factories across 21 manufacturing bases worldwide, with its products sold in more than 115 countries and regions. This doesn’t just reflect production scale; it reflects strategic intent. The company has built a network of 79 subsidiaries and over 19,000 dealerships globally, supported by nearly 120,000 professionals dedicated to delivering vehicles and services on all continents.
After exploring the automated assembly lines, we had the unique opportunity to take our cameras beyond the factory floor and onto the Chongqing Xibu Automobile Proving Grounds. This massive testing site covers thousands of acres and includes a high-speed circular track and multiple dynamic road conditions, with surfaces for evaluating braking, comfort, noise, and whole-vehicle performance and nearly 70 specialized road segments spanning over 50 kilometers in total length. This is where Changan vehicles are pushed beyond normal limits to validate durability, safety, and reliability. We could feel the stability of vehicles at high speeds as these cars were engineered with thousands of simulated test kilometers. Changan doesn’t treat testing as an afterthought. This facility supports thousands of tests annually and logistically enables millions of cumulative test kilometers before a vehicle ever reaches a customer.
Just a short distance from the plant sits one of the largest R&D complexes we’ve ever seen. Changan’s Global Research and Development Center sprawls over more than 1,000 acres and includes design, testing, simulation, safety, noise, vibration and collision laboratories with more than 180 separate labs in total.
This isn’t research for its own sake but the backbone of product development that informs everything from vehicle architecture to advanced driver-assistance systems. Changan employs over 18,000 engineers and technicians from more than 30 countries, reinforcing its position not just as a manufacturer, but as a technology-driven automotive innovator.
Our time on the testing track put everything into perspective. There’s one thing to see robots and assembly lines in motion, but it’s another to drive a vehicle engineered with all that R&D and validation backing it. Each model we tested responded with poise, confidence and refinement, but the result of countless tests at that proving ground.
It wasn’t just about acceleration or braking; it was about the feel of the car as it transitioned between surfaces, the responsiveness of the controls, and the technology embedded in every system and all validated at tracks and labs just meters from where they’re produced.
What started as a visit to film robots and production lines turned into a deep appreciation for how Changan Automobile is positioning itself for the future. From automated manufacturing to integrated R&D hubs, a global production footprint, new energy brand expansion, and strategic battery partnerships, Changan is serious about becoming a global automotive leader, not just in output but in innovation.
