The history of this company goes back to Beijing Jeep Corporation (BJC), which was the first Sino-foreign automobile joint venture in China.
[5] It became a prototype for future cooperative projects and BJC became a test case revealing problems, both political and economic, that would appear for other investors the Chinese hoped to attract.
[7] American Motors began negotiations in 1979 to sell its vehicles in China and gain access to then low-cost Chinese labor.
[11] Assembly of the Cherokee continued after Chrysler purchased American Motors as did production of the classic Beijing BJ212-based SUVs.
[12] Its pitfalls and successes are pored over in case studies, and such academic reports sometimes compare the marketing strategy of Beijing Jeep with that of Shanghai Volkswagen, another early Sino-foreign joint venture.
[citation needed] Chrysler no longer had any ownership in Beijing Jeep as of early 2009 due to the failure of its attempt to acquire the maker of Mercedes-Benz models.
[18] Incidentally, Daimler had previously cooperated with FAW Group to produce the then-recently discontinued Mercedes-Benz W123 (200 and 230E) sedans although these did not prove popular.
Since the 2014 sales of Chrysler and Jeep to FIAT, the Jeep-like vehicles and their derivatives have been produced by the BAIC subsidiary Beijing Automobile Works Co., Ltd. (BAW).
[28] Some Mercedes offerings, the S-Class for example, are imported by Mercedes-Benz (China) Ltd.[citation needed] As of 2009, Beijing Benz products, alongside those of several other makes, are purchased for use by Chinese State officials such as ministers and provincial heads.