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First Automobile Works broke ground on its first factory in 1953 , and produced its first product, the Jiefang CA-10 truck in 1956.Soviet Russia lent assistance during these early years providing technical support, tooling, and production machinery. Before the first factory opened, 39 Chinese FAW employees traveled to the Stalin Truck Factory for instruction in truck production. Operations were conducted under Soviet direction, and the USSR is even credited with choosing Changchun as the location for the first FAW facility.The Faw "winged 1" badge is derived from the Chinese ?? and depicts a hawk spreading its wings, ? . The logo was introduced in 1964.First Automobile Works initially made only commercial trucks, but started producing passenger cars in 1958. These vehicles, Hongqi luxury sedans, were the first domestically produced Chinese automobiles. Made primarily for the party elite, the design changed little over their thirty-year production run. Following this, FAW's Audi products are the traditionally favoured choice for ranking Chinese state officials.In 1992, the name First Automobile Works was changed to FAW Group Corporation.Though FAW was the fourth Chinese automaker to take on Western partners, its early joint venture with Volkswagen in 1990 saw it become the second Chinese auto company to develop a strong cooperative relationship with a foreign counterpart. SAIC was the first, in 1984 and also with VW.Volkswagen was the first foreign partner for FAW, but others soon followed. The company acquired 50% ownership of Tianjin Automotive Xiali in September, 2002, and renamed the brand FAW Tianjin. As a result, FAW ended up with Toyota as a foreign joint venture partner. FAW established a joint venture with General Motors in 2009 and has joint ventures with a handful of other foreign companies as well.
The company produced more than 1.5 million vehicles in 2008, and in 2009 it was the largest machinery corporation and the second largest auto manufacturer in China. In 2010, the 2.56 million units sold made it the third most-productive vehicle maker in China that year, and one of its offerings, the FAW Xiali, was the 7th most-purchased car in China in 2010. It produced 2.6 million vehicles in 2011, the third-largest output of any China-based company. While it retained its third place rank, the number of whole vehicles produced in 2012 slowed to 2.3 million. Passenger cars made up a relatively scant 64% of total production that year.
