Cowin Auto

Cowin Auto (official name Yibin Kaiyi (Cowin) Automobile Co., Ltd., in Chinese 凯 翼 - Kǎiyì) is a China car manufacturer founded in January 2014 by Chery Automobile in Wuhu as a subsidiary for the production of Low cost Car.
From 2018 51% of the property was sold to Yibin Auto Industry Development Investment and Sichuan Yibin Pushi Group and consequently the headquarters and headquarters were moved to Yibin.
==History==
===Origins===
The origin of the Cowin name dates back to 2003 when it was introduced to identify the Chery Cowin which was nothing more than the restyling of the old Chery Fulwin (the licensed version of the first series of Seat Toledo as well as the first car produced by the same Chinese); subsequently, from 2009, Chery decided to reorganize its product range using this name to identify a sub-range of models that are now old and at the end of the production cycle but kept in the price list only because they still guaranteed decent sales volumes; thus were born the Chery Cowin 1 (the restyling of the old Chery QQ6), the Chery Cowin 2 (ex Chery Fulwin), Chery Cowin 3 (ex model Chery A5), etc. 
The strategy was therefore to give a greater identity to the new vehicles while merging all the obsolete ones under the Cowin brand.
===Foundation===
Subsequently Chery studies the "Jiangbei project" with the aim of launching a new car manufacturer where it can transfer all the old productions and therefore specializes in low-cost cars and in the supply of kit components to licensed third-party manufacturers.
This carmakers was founded in January 2014 by: Anhui Jiangbei Development (investment and development company), Chery Commercial Vehicle (Chery's commercial vehicle subsidiary) and Wuhu Construction Investment (Wuhu city investment fund) and as a manufacturing site the former Weier military plant was acquired (PLA factory no. 5720), located at the Wanli airport, which possessed the automobile production license (as it assembled a minivan of Chery origin). The Weier plant was initially renamed Anhui Ruihong Automobile Co, Ltd. and a few months later it took the official name Wuhu Kaiyi (Cowin) Automobile Co., Ltd (transcribed in English simply as Cowin Auto) Now established Cowin brand. 
All businesses were acquired by Chery and Zheng Zhaorui was appointed to serve as general manager of Cowin. 
In August 2014 at the Chengdu motor show, Cowin, a subsidiary of Chery, made its official public debut, exhibiting the two subcompact models (Cowin C3 sedan and C3R hatchback) and the prototype i-CX, a five-seater crossover destined to be produced in the future and announcing the launch of new models based on Chery platforms and technologies. A few months later, the company's first model, the Cowin C3, a small B-segment sedan originally designed to be sold by Chery and passed to Cowin, made its production debut. The C3 is available in four-door sedan bodywork while the five-door hatchback version will be sold as the Cowin C3R.
In 2016 the Cowin X3 debuted, the brand's first car designed in-house and based on the platform of the Chery Tiggo 3 and with Chery-ACTECO, the design was the work of the Turin-based GranStudio. Production takes place in the modernized former Weier plant and now owned by Cowin.
In September 2017, sales of the Cowin X5, a rebadge of the Chery Tiggo 5 produced in Wuhu.
===Sale of shares to the city of Yibin===
In 2018, following a restructuring of the Chery shareholding, part of Cowin is sold to the city of Yibin through the subsidiaries Yibin Auto Industry Development Investment Co., Ltd. and Sichuan Yibin Pushi (PUSH) Group Co., Ltd. which take possession 50.5% and 0.5% respectively. Chery Automobile retains a 49% stake. 
Yibin City paid a total of RMB 2.5 billion for a 51% stake in Cowin (valuing the company at around RMB 5 billion, about $ 800 million). Cowin Auto's headquarters moved to Yibin, Sichuan and the company changed its official name to Yibin Kaiyi (Cowin) Automobile Co., Ltd.
On 7 January 2019 the new production plant in Yibin is inaugurated and the Cowin X5 goes into production. Production at the Chery plant in Wuhu will continue for the X3 model. 
In 2020 the Cowin Showjet, a crossover derived from the Chery Tiggo 5x, goes into production in the new Yibin plant.
==Vehicle==
*Cowin C3
*Cowin E3
*Chery Arrizo 5
*Cowin X3
*Chery Tiggo 5
*Karry K60
*Cowin Showjet
Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2014
Category:Car manufacturers of China
Category:Electric vehicle manufacturers of China
Category:Chinese companies established in 2014