[citation needed] It began making China's first domestically produced light-duty trucks in 1958,[5] the 2½ ton NJ-130, based on the GAZ-51 from the Soviet Union.

The Ministry branded the truck Guerin (跃进牌汽车 - literally meaning "Leap Forward") and approved the establishment of Nanjing Automobile Works that same year.

In the mid-1980s, Nanjing Auto purchased designs and moulds from Isuzu[7] and obtained technology from the Italian Iveco, the commercial vehicle unit of Fiat,[8] participating in a spate of technology transfer deals circa 1980 that saw Japanese designs and machinery sold to Chinese buyers.

[9] In 2000 the design, and possibly the tooling, for SEAT's first generation Ibiza was purchased and the car sold in China as the Nanjing Yuejin Soyat.

After the Abingdon plant closed in 1980, Longbridge was also from 1982 the home of MG and then of the Rover marque which gradually replaced Austin in the late 1980s.

[citation needed] The site is owned by St. Modwen Properties which acquired 412 acres (1.67 km2) in two deals in 2003 and 2004 for £57.5 million and leased it back to MG Rover Group.

A 33-year deal was signed in February 2006 between Nanjing Auto and St. Modwen Properties covering the lease of 105 acres (a quarter of the total area of the Longbridge plant) but including the two main car assembly plants, the paint shop and administrative offices at a rent of around £1.8 million a year.

The first product, Chang Da H9 is based on the structure of FAW Jiabao V80 (佳宝V80) and took three years to develop before being launched in 2017.

[8] The joint venture initially manufactured a version of the Iveco Daily for sale in the Chinese market,[18] and, as of 1995, it continued to make light trucks but had added diesel engines as well.

[18][21] In July 2017, Naveco started production of the new Iveco China Daily in the new factory of Qiaolin, Nanjing.

A major manufacturing base of Nanjing Auto,[27] it makes light-duty trucks under the Yuejin brand.

[7] As of 2003, this vehicle manufacturer was owned by Yuejin Automobile Group of Jiangsu, which held just over fifty-per cent ownership of the company at this time, and two State firms created to dispose of non-performing bank loans, China Huarong Asset Management and China Cinda Asset Management.

[27] Prior to the merger, but bidding alongside SAIC,[1] Nanjing Auto purchased the remaining assets of British group MG Rover for near US$100 million.