"Jack" (JAC — Jianghuai Automobile Company)
JAC started out about as far as you can get from being a future partner to NIO and Volkswagen — in 1964, in Hefei, Anhui province, building trucks. For decades the brand stayed exactly what it looked like: a solid commercial-vehicle maker, no premium ambitions, no big statements. The turn came when the company began branching into passenger cars, crossovers, buses — and, crucially, EVs.
Distinguishing feature
Today JAC isn't one brand but a cluster: JAC Motors covers the classic lineup, the iEV line handles EVs, and Sihao (Sehol) targets a younger, tech-savvy crowd. But the company's real industry weight comes not from its own models but its partnerships: JAC builds battery-electric vehicles for NIO, and since 2017 — through the JAC Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd. joint venture — has produced affordable EVs for a new generation of Chinese drivers. In 2020, Volkswagen increased its stake in the JV, cementing Hefei's status as one of the German group's key EV hubs in China.