Yutian Automotive Factory 羽田汽車工廠

On the factory floor at the old automotive plant
On the factory floor at the old automotive plant in Dacun Township.

The massive ruins of the Yǔtián Automotive Factory 羽田汽車工廠 are located on the Dayeh University campus in Dacun, Changhua. There are four main buildings, each approximately 360 meters in length and 90 meters across for an estimated total of 32,500 square meters apiece. Outside of the Changhua Coastal Industrial Park 彰化濱海工業區 in Lukang (which opened in 1995) these buildings are probably the largest in the county—and the entire complex is readily visible from space.

An abandoned automotive plant at Dayeh University
The view from outside. Several of the buildings to the right had been cleaned out and might be used for overflow parking. Most of the photos in this piece are from the two buildings to the far left.

To trace the history of these immense structures we must return to the mid-1960s and the founding of Yutian Machinery Co. Ltd. 羽田機械, initially a small producer of motorcycle parts and supplies. Their business grew and in 1976 they signed a deal to produce several of the the Peugeot line of automobiles. The first cars rolled off the assembly line in 1979.

A vast ruin in Changhua County
Deeper into the automotive plant.
An immense abandonment in the foothills of the Baguashan Range
It is quite a jaunt from one side of the building to the other.
A curious arrangement of stones
Here there was a chair and a curious arrangement of stones on the ground.
Life in the trenches of an abandoned automotive factory
Life in the trenches once occupied by immense machinery.

According to this timeline of the Taiwanese automotive industry Yutian expanded operations in the 1980s and began production of a number of Daihatsu automobiles. Business was booming and the company went public in 1988, raising billions of NT, but—in a story that will surprise nobody familiar with how big business works in Taiwan—something sinister was lurking beneath the surface.

A survey of the disaster zone at Dayeh University
In between the first and second building.
Around back at the westernmost building
Around back at the westernmost building at Yutian Automotive Plant.
Reflections of industry in Dacun Township
The rooftop at the very back of the westernmost building has been stripped away by the elements.

Meanwhile, in 1990, the parent company founded Dayeh Institute Group 大葉集團, a “German style” polytechnic college located immediately adjacent to the automotive plant. After rapid expansion and accreditation this was renamed Dayeh University 大葉大學, which occupies the site to this day. (It was actually a student at the university who first led me to the site.)

Gigantic factory doors at the automotive plant
Gigantic factory doors on the west-facing side of the first factory building. It is difficult to establish a sense of scale here but these doors are several meters tall.
Archaic lightswitch in the old factory
Archaic lightswitch.
Protruding from the decaying wall
Broken wiring.
Rusty old door at the abandoned automotive plant
A rusty old door at the back of the first factory building.

Sometime between 1990 and 1995 the automotive plant was decommissioned and vehicle assembly presumably moved elsewhere (a detail I have not been able to divine). In 1995 the company unexpectedly fell apart due to tax evasion and embezzlement of funds. News reports suggest the general manager had been siphoning off assets in the years leading up to the scandal, leaving nothing to pay the overdue tax bill when the government finally came around to collect. Soon the factory and its contents were auctioned off by the courts. Since then not much has been done with the empty shells of the buildings themselves.

A swampy lake where giant machines once toiled
These open wounds on the factory floor have become infected with biological lifeforms.
Nature reclaims the automotive factory
Nature reclaims the vast automotive factory in Dacun Township.
Beneath the factory floor in Dacun
Beneath the factory floor. There are only a few points at which you can descend below ground level, this being one of them.
Rusty cans in the old automotive plant
Rusty cans in the old automotive plant. Faint echoes and clues.
Sifting through the wreckage at the old automotive plant
Sifting through the wreckage at the old automotive plant.

When I first set foot inside these buildings I was completely in awe. The scale of the place cannot be reproduced in photographs—you really have to go there yourself to appreciate how vast and empty these buildings are. The far end of each building doesn’t stretch to the horizon but it certainly feels that way. Hearing the wind blow through the broken rooftop is quite an experience as you walk the length of each building. There are bigger ruins in Taiwan but none more empty and serene that I have found.

Floating above the factory floor
Floating above the factory floor. This view was captured from an observation platform deep inside the first factory building.
Quality control in the old automotive plant
Quality control.
Objective: zero defects
Objective: zero defects.
Sunset from the security checkpoint
Sunset from the security checkpoint out front.

One of the more captivating aspects of urban exploration is the sense of mystery that surrounds every new find. What was this place? What was its purpose? Why was it abandoned? Answers to these questions have been revealed here—but at the time of exploration I was still in the dark. It was a factory, sure enough, but what did it produce? The motivational posters at the southern end of the outermost building provided the answer—automobiles—and with a bit of sleuthing around the internet has provided the rest.

The automotive plant from the viewing platform
Looking north from the observation platform.
Looking back on the vast automotive plant in Dacun
Back at ground level again, appreciating the immensity of the ruins.

This might not be the most inspiring or interesting of the industrial ruins of Taiwan to explore but it’s still worth a visit if you’re in the area. Access is not at all difficult, nor are there many dangers to watch out for. The plant has also been written up here.

2 Comments

  1. Yeah, Its massive and gives a special feeling when you’re inside… I was lucky to be there once. We were on a field visit nearby and got some time to peep into this abandoned factory… What I heard was the owners later turned into the retail supermarket business…

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