On October 11, the opening ceremony of the Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles Sci-Tech Innovation Center was held in grand style. Wu Huaizhu, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers; Qiang Xiaowen, Assistant General Manager of Dongfeng Automobile Co., Ltd. (Dongfeng Shares) and Secretary of the Party Committee and Dean of the Product R&D Institute; Liu Licheng, General Manager of Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles; Zeng Miao, Party Committee Secretary; and Deputy General Managers Liu Zhensheng, Huang Zheng, Bai Weizhi, Yang Ruoqing and Fang Yong, along with assistant general managers Liu Yi, Zhang Da, Xiang Xusheng and Deng Weiping and other company leaders, invited guests, technical backbone and authoritative media attended the event, toured the center together, and witnessed the technology launch of the Dongfeng ammonia-powered heavy truck. Just one day earlier, Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles officially released its all-new Green-Smart Platform. From platform launch to center opening, the two milestones are closely linked, jointly constituting an important milestone in Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles’ independent R&D journey. The opening of this center pays tribute to and reviews the 57-year history of Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles’ independent R&D, and is a key carrier for implementing the "East Wind Rises 2030" plan and accelerating the building of "Three Dongfengs." Relying on a full-chain independent R&D ecosystem, it will continue to tackle core technologies, iterate its product matrix and expand its global footprint, laying a solid technological foundation for building an intelligent, green and internationalized Dongfeng, an innovative, integrated and symbiotic Dongfeng, and a Dongfeng that serves users and creates value, supporting the company’s steady progress toward its 2030 strategic goals and injecting solid scientific and technological momentum into China’s commercial vehicle industry.
Grand Unveiling: Dongfeng’s Sci-Tech Innovation Hub Officially Debuts
The atmosphere at the ceremony was solemn and warm. Wu Huaizhu solemnly announced the official opening of the center. Key leaders of Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles and relevant heads of the Dongfeng Shares R&D Institute jointly unveiled the center, formally declaring the completion and activation of this core base carrying 57 years of R&D heritage and anchoring the future of independent sci-tech innovation.
Afterwards, guests entered the center for a tour. Dr. Li Zhi, Deputy Director of the Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles Technology Center, gave an in-depth presentation on sci-tech innovation achievements and the independent R&D journey, leading everyone through more than half a century of Dongfeng’s R&D heritage. When they reached the ammonia-powered vehicle display area, all guests witnessed the technology launch of the Dongfeng ammonia-powered heavy truck — a concrete presentation of the new Green-Smart Platform’s technological achievements and an important move in the company’s multi-energy zero-carbon track. Meanwhile, the Dongfeng Green-Smart concept vehicle made a grand appearance, and guests boarded this concept vehicle embodying forward-looking design for static evaluation, closely inspecting the cab layout, ergonomic design and core configuration, and directly experiencing the product’s craftsmanship and design highlights. At the end of the tour, guests watched the center’s theme video, gaining a more intuitive appreciation of the company’s sci-tech strategy and future blueprint.
Exploring the Hall: New-Energy Achievements Steal the Show
The Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles Sci-Tech Innovation Center, themed "East Wind Rises, Technology Leaps," is laid out on two floors. The first floor presents a circular display of successive vehicle generations, fully presenting the iterative evolution of six generations of models. The second floor focuses on underlying technology development and the R&D ecosystem, featuring core functional areas such as the Technology Innovation Hall and Technology Launch Hall, covering frontier technology development, results publishing and exchange, and digital R&D support. The innovation studio area displays the Shu-Zhi Mulan Innovation Studio, post-doctoral research workstation and a matrix of 8 professional innovation studios, presenting a complete R&D closed loop of "basic research — system development — vehicle integration — test verification — rapid manufacturing," strongly supporting Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles’ globalization and intelligent transformation and becoming a core engine driving the high-quality development of China’s high-end commercial vehicles.
In the sixth-generation vehicle platform area, Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles displayed its multi-fuel technology matrix and new-energy technology matrix, covering five powertrain routes — fuel, gas, pure electric, hydrogen and ammonia — fully demonstrating the company’s technological layout on the multi-energy track. As a highlight result of this matrix, the Dongfeng ammonia-powered heavy truck was officially launched. Built on the all-new Green-Smart Platform and designed for resource transport scenarios, it pairs an ammonia internal combustion engine with a hybrid system, achieving zero carbon emissions, high energy density and rapid refueling, marking a key breakthrough for Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles from technology development to full-vehicle delivery in the ammonia-powered heavy truck field.
The hydrogen fuel cell tractor for mid-to-long-haul trunk logistics and the pure electric sanitation truck positioned for mid-sized municipal sanitation represent Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles’ technological achievements in hydrogen and pure electric respectively, both achieving breakthroughs such as rapid refueling and scenario adaptation. The display area also featured core achievements including the Longqing 4.0 efficient intelligent powertrain chain and the EEA3.0 domain-centralized electrical/electronic architecture, accompanied by a patent wall and honor wall that intuitively showcase the company’s deep R&D heritage.
Carrying the Torch: Toward a New Journey of Innovation
The official opening of the Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles Sci-Tech Innovation Center is not only a concentrated showcase of R&D results, but also a milestone new starting point in the company’s independent R&D journey. Since the construction of the Second Automobile Works (Erqi) in 1969, generations of Dongfeng R&D personnel have inherited the "Hurricane Lamp Spirit" and consistently upheld the product development philosophy of "design one generation, improve one generation, pre-research one generation," forging a path of independent innovation and technological self-reliance. Fifty-seven years of deep heritage have ultimately condensed into this sci-tech base integrating results display, technology development and talent cultivation. It is both a spiritual carrier of patriotic sentiment and R&D aspirations, and an important research platform for accelerating independent control of core technologies and ensuring sustained product competitiveness in the new era.
Standing at a new development starting point, Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles will take the Sci-Tech Innovation Center as its core engine, continue to deepen frontier tracks such as multi-energy and intelligence, continuously break through key technology barriers, improve the full-chain R&D ecosystem, and drive strategic transformation and high-quality development through technology leaps, advancing steadily toward building a world-class commercial vehicle technology center and injecting an unending stream of Dongfeng power into the technological self-reliance of China’s commercial vehicle industry.
