Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The delegation of Uzbekistan, including clients, partners and media, got acquainted with the modern plant of the Chinese premium automobile brand EXEED in Qingdao (Shandong Province).

About the brand

EXEED is a new entrant in the global high-end car market, but it inherits the century-old history of the European auto industry and integrates the latest smart technology in China, which gives it the strength to challenge the traditional high-end car brands. 

The brand name is derived from the English word exceed, which means “to surpass”, “to push the boundaries”. The desire for continuous improvement is also reflected in the EXEED slogan: "Born for more."

The "European trace" in EXEED’s DNA is clearly visible. The technological partner of the EXEED company is the Jaguar Land Rover concern, and the development of the first models on the basis of the Munich R&D center EXEED was led by an international team, which included leading European designers and engineers. 

The world’s best manufacturers of components for the automotive industry Intel, Bosch, Magna, Benteler also contributed to the creation of the brand.

Qingdao

Qingdao is a sub-provincial city in China in the east of Shandong province, on the shores of the Yellow Sea. Qingdao is a port and a powerful manufacturing center. In 2022, Qingdao’s GDP grew by 3.9%, reaching US$217 billion.

Qingdao is a major base for heavy industry. By 2026, the added value of the manufacturing sector is projected to exceed 30% of the city’s total GDP.

Companies such as Haier Group, Hisense Group, FAW Jeifang, FAW Volkswagen, SAIC General Motors, etc. are based in Qingdao.

EXEED Factory in Qingdao

Chery, which is an EXEED’s mother company, launched the EXEED super intelligent plant in Qingdao in 2022. Representatives of Uzbekistan became the first foreign guests at this plant.

The total area of the plant is more than 560,000 sq.m. square meters. The total investments of Chery in this plant will be US$3.3 billion. In the future, the company plans to produce products worth US$5.5 billion per year at this plant.

The plant produces only cars of the EXEED brands - LX, VX, TXL and RX. The total capacity of the plant, after completion of all stages, will be 200,000 cars per year.

Vice Director of EXEED Uzbekistan Guo Yanlan noted that this plant will produce 50,000 cars in 2023. In 2024, the production of vehicles at this plant is expected to double.

The plant implements four main production processes: stamping, welding, painting and assembly. In addition, the factory houses the R&D center, testing and inspection facilities, and test track, which will provide production and R&D of vehicles and components for the EXEED M3X Platform series, as well as realizing the mixed model production of conventional motor vehicles and NEVs.

The modern technologies allow the factory to roll off a new car on average every 90 seconds.

The stamping workshop boasts the fastest in-depth interactive customization in the world, with 6600T automatic high-speed synchronous production line and digital management platform with the automation rate reaching 100%.

The welding workshop is equipped with the most advanced AI quality control system in the world. About 350 AI robots in the production line can realize intelligent linkage and high-density flexible general assembly, so as to quickly switch to the production of different models

The painting workshop possesses the world's leading "zero carbon" intelligent manufacturing and ultimate energy-saving and environmental protection technology. 

The general assembly workshop has the world's leading intelligent and high precision technology, with the advantages of short process, modularity and intelligence, etc., and the robot for on-line appearance clearance surface difference inspection achieves an accuracy of 0.02mm.

The Super Intelligent Factory is also a green factory that fully responds to the "Dual Carbon" strategy to minimize the "carbon footprint" of the whole life cycle. In particular, the adoption of reclaimed water and rainwater reuse technology ensures the full recycling of water resources, which can save 180,000 tons of water per year.

The adoption of large-area high-density photovoltaic panels for self-power generation and the residual power to the grid, forms a smart micro-grid combined with energy storage, which generates an annual average of 14 million kWh, which allows to cover almost 35% of the factory’s needs for the electricity. This also reduces carbon emissions by 110,000 tons.

The adoption of the world-leading painting process and the full application of waste heat utilization and condensate recovery technology ensures an annual reduction of 852,000 cubic meters of gas, which can satisfy the most demanding environmental protection requirements in the world, including Europe.

The level of automation of stamping, welding and painting shops is 90%, noted Guo Yanlan. According to her, the plant employs about 300 people, who mainly control the quality of products.

Guo Yanlan emphasized that today EXEED exports its products to 80 countries and regions. Vehicles, produced at the factory, are also exported to Uzbekistan.

EXEED in Uzbekistan

EXEED entered the Uzbekistan market four months ago. Asaka Motors is the official partner of EXEED in Uzbekistan. At the moment, official EXEED sales offices operate in Tashkent (in Rokhat and Tashkent City), Ferghana, Urgench and other places.

The Chinese brand, in collaboration with partners, plans to open 10 more sales stores in Uzbekistan in 2023. These showrooms will also have service centers, providing after-sales services for the vehicles.

EXEED began production using SKD technology of its three models - LX, VX and TXL in Syrdarya region of Uzbekistan in May 2023. The plant will produce up to 20,000 cars per year in SKD production mode.

Earlier, Lawson Han, country director of EXEED, in an interview with UzDaily, noted that EXEED plans to produce 5,000 cars in Uzbekistan in 2023. He added that the production target for 2024 is 20,000 vehicles.

The brand also plans to launch production of the new RX model in Uzbekistan in 2024. Later, the automaker plans to launch sales of electric vehicles in the Central Asian country. EXEED intends to introduce electric vehicles to the Uzbek market in the fall of 2024.