Santana, from car to classic.

"With Santana, I am not afraid to travel all over the world." This powerful slogan opened a new era of China people's cognition of automobiles in 1980s and 1990s. A Santana car of more than 200,000 was an absolute status symbol at that time. Even today, nearly forty years later, whenever Santana's classic cars pass by, I still can't help looking back, because they are witnesses and inheritors of history, and they are stories around us.

1973, in order to replace 4 1 1 and 4 12 with poor market performance, Volkswagen introduced a brand-new Passat car series, which was well received by the market and was named 1974 car of the year by Wheels. In the following 198 1 year, Volkswagen then introduced the second generation Passat B2, which had a more legendary experience than its predecessors. Because in 1985, this square German car crossed the ocean to a brand-new country and was given a new name-Santana.

The automobile industry plays an important role in a modern civilized country, but at the beginning of reform and opening up, China's experience in manufacturing automobiles was still very limited. Hongqi Automobile and Shanghai Automobile were almost all domestic cars that China could take out at that time, but even so, their technical indicators were already behind the times.

The so-called reform and opening up is to make changes. In the automobile industry, we must change the backward situation of the domestic automobile industry.

"Cars can be joint ventures." 1978165438+1October, the state gave instructions to China automobile industry.

Since then, SAIC has kept close contact with foreign automobile companies. In the communication with many international automobile companies including Chrysler, Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen. SAIC found that most of them think that the foundation of China automobile industry is too weak, so it is too early to carry out joint production at this time, and they are only willing to cooperate in assembly. Different from the public, Hahn, then the chairman, was far-sighted and tried his best to promote the cooperation between the two sides in the joint venture. After six years of negotiations, Shanghai Volkswagen, which is of great significance to China's automobile industry, was finally established at 1985.

At the beginning of the establishment of Shanghai Volkswagen, because of outdated technology and lack of experience, most Santana cars produced in Shanghai were still off the assembly line (CKD), with extremely low domestic production rate and unsatisfactory output. Despite the difficult conditions, under the strict standards of German Volkswagen and the strict supervision of China managers, Santana made in Shanghai has always maintained high quality.

Persistence will always pay off, and high-quality car-making standards have also laid the foundation for Santana's good reputation of "not afraid to travel around the world" in the future. With the passage of time, Shanghai Volkswagen has gradually mastered advanced technology and has more and more well-trained employees. By 1996, Santana of Shanghai Volkswagen has reached 90% domestic production rate, and the accumulation of technical talents during this period is the treasure of China automobile industry.

In overseas markets, Volkswagen launched Passat B3, the successor model of Santana, at 1988, while Santana in China market has been producing until 20 12, but this does not mean that Shanghai Volkswagen lacks innovation consciousness. 199 1 10 in June, Shanghai Volkswagen began to develop Santana 2000 based on Passat B3. Subsequently, the first Santana 2000 officially rolled off the assembly line on April 20th, 1995. In the following eight years, a series of modified models with the characteristics of the times, such as Time Superman, Free Boiling Point, Jie Jun, Time Beloved and Time Sunshine, were introduced one after another, which together constituted the memories of a generation.

On February 1 day, 2004, the updated Santana 3000 went on sale. The special feature of this car is that it is the first model independently developed by Shanghai Volkswagen and a milestone in the progress of Shanghai Volkswagen's independent innovation capability. In 2008, Santana Zhijun was listed as the last modified model of "Old Santana". By 20 13, Zhijun stopped production, and China sold 4 million Santana cars, accounting for one third of its global sales. In this way, this classic model has indeed traveled all over the world.

Santana has an unparalleled position in the hearts of consumers in China. In the depths of each of our memories, there are some memories about Santana buried. China is not without automobile culture. Santana is a small puzzle in China automobile culture.

In the 42 years of reform and opening up, cars have entered thousands of households. Some of our laws and regulations may need to be improved, and some of our concepts may need to be changed. However, the pace of China automobile culture has never stopped. I have been expecting that one day, foreigners will marvel at the cars designed by China or the modified works designed by China.

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.