LU GUANQIU, founder of Chinese privately owned Wanxiang Group, has become the first Chinese inducted into the U.S. Automotive Hall of Fame.

Lu is among a diverse collection of mobility pioneers from around the globe who are recognized as inductees of the 2022 Automotive Hall of Fame (AHF), announced the AHF on Thursday in Detroit.

Lu is a Chinese entrepreneur and trailblazer who used his creativity and wits to evolve Wanxiang from a local bicycle repair shop in the 1960s to a global supplier. Wanxiang is the first Chinese company to sell automobile parts to American Original Equipment Manufacturers and now has operations in 22 U.S. states, the AHF said.

Meanwhile, Lu spearheaded the drive for clean energy in China. He started several battery and electric vehicle initiatives in the late 1990s, acquired and revived A123 Systems and Fisker Automotive Holdings in the United States. The latter has transformed into Karma Automotive. He died in October 2017.

The AHF is a non-profit organization that honors and celebrates the automotive/mobility industry’s leaders and innovators through awards and programs that challenge young and old alike to higher levels of personal achievement.

Founded in 1939, the Automotive Hall of Fame has honored 755 awardees from around the world who have impacted and influenced the automotive and mobility industries, including founder of Ford Motor Co. Henry Ford, German inventor and engineer Karl Benz, Honda Motor Co. founder Soichiro Honda, founder of Toyota Motor Corp. Kiichiro Toyoda. (Xinhua)