On April 15, 1960, a roar echoed through Jinan Automobile Factory as China’s first heavy-duty truck – the Yellow River JN150 8-ton cargo vehicle – made its debut. This milestone ended the history of China’s inability to produce heavy-duty trucks, opened the prelude to the development of China’s heavy-duty truck industry, and marked the beginning of a national brand’s legend.
The older generation of Yellow River employees, adhering to the spirit of self-reliance and hard work, tackled one technical challenge after another with the tenacity of “ants gnawing at a bone,” forging a path of independent innovation through countless obstacles. Generation after generation of new Yellow River practitioners, cherish the dream of building a strong automobile nation, evolved from product imitation and introducing foreign technologies to integrating with global standards and developing independent innovation capabilities. They achieved a historic leap for the national heavy-duty truck industry – from scratch, from small to large, and from weak to strong. The name “Yellow River” has long transcended its identity as a brand, elevating into a spiritual totem of self-improvement for national industry.
This spirit continued in subsequent technological endeavors. At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the Yellow River hydrogen fuel cell snow wax truck developed by Sinotruk garnered global attention upon its debut. Integrating industrial internet, big data, and artificial intelligence, this snow wax truck provided athletes with one-stop services such as waxing, rest, and warm-up, reaching the new heights of “China’s first creation, world-class standard, and fully domestic production.” Chinese manufacturing proved to the world: we can not only “make it” but also “make it exquisite and innovative.”
In April 2023, the Sinotruk Yellow River X7 redefined industry perceptions with an ultra-low wind resistance coefficient of 0.349, leading global heavy-duty trucks. It set a Guinness World Record for “the longest distance traveled by a semi-trailer truck on a single refueling,” astonishing the world with its outstanding capabilities in efficient transportation and extreme energy conservation. From ice and snow venues to logistics trunk lines, the Yellow River brand has always defined industry heights through technological breakthroughs.
At the 2024 Hanover Motor Show, the appearance of Sinotruk’s Yellow River hydrogen internal combustion engine tractor-trailer once again drew the world’s attention to the East. After thousands of simulations and tests, it skillfully integrated refined design with cutting-edge intelligent technology, shocking the industry by reducing the wind resistance coefficient to 0.286Cd and achieving a 15% vehicle energy saving – a feat that earned global admiration. This is not just a numerical leap but a declaration of the strong rise of Chinese commercial vehicles in the new energy sector.
The inherited technical gene is nurturing new legends. Now, the all-new Yellow River H7 is about to make a stunning debut. In what innovative form will it continue the glorious journey of the Yellow River brand? The answer is about to be revealed, and all expectations and speculations will transform into a heart-stirring demonstration of strength at the moment of its appearance. This is Yellow River – always injecting endless momentum into national industry with the courage to exceed expectations.
From 1960 to 2025, the Yellow River brand has, through 65 years of perseverance and breakthroughs, interpreted its pursuit of technical excellence and fulfilled its responsibility to national industry. With the name of “Made in China,” Sinotruk employees have presented a brilliant report to the motherland and the new era. This marks Sinotruk Group’s historic leap from technology introduction to independent innovation, from following and running alongside to leading the way, and has made “Yellow River” – a name that resounds through the skies – a vivid footnote to the forging ahead of China’s industry.
