Lifan Industry Co., Ltd. is a Chinese automobile and motorcycle manufacturer originated in Chongqing, China. This privately owned corporation was discovered in 1992 but only began the works of their vehicles in 2005. They started their lineup with small sedans and microvans that they personally built in-house.
Right now, they have expanded their lineup to dirt bike engines, mini-vehicles, passenger cars, microvans, entry-level motorcycles, and commercial trucks. Aside from manufacturing vehicles, they also produce wines and sports shoes. In the world market, Lifan is famous for selling small passenger cars.
Related Other Chinese Car Brand Chery Automobile Co., Ltd.
Lifan was started by Yin Mingshan and is currently employing almost 14,000 people. Coming from politics, Mingshan decided to start a small repair shop specializing in motorcycles. with nine workers. He had so many conflicts with the government but he has a fine relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.
Lifan’s original name was Chongqing Hongda Auto Fittings Research Centre. In 1997, it was then changed to Lifan Industry Group. In 2003, it expanded its manufacturing prowess and manufactured buses. A year after, they were called as the biggest private motorcycle producer in China. In 2009, it trickled down to the fifth spot when other bigger companies reigned.
Image source: wikipedia.org
In 2003 as well, Lifan purchased another company named Chongqing Special Purpose Use Vehicle Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Two years after, they were already able to create their own car that they named 520 sedan running in a Brazilian Tritec engine. In 2011, Lifan offered the following vehicles – compact sedan 520, hatchback 520, X60 compact SUV, mid-sized 620 sedan, and the subcompact 620.
In 2011, Lifan announced a revenue of USD$1.83 Billion and a profit of USD$62 Million. Currently they have two car assembly factories in China. To increase the level of production and their world market sales, they also built manufacturing plants in Iran, Thailand, Vietnam, and Turkey.
Here is the full list of Lifan models and variants:
- Lifan 320
- Lifan 520i
- Lifan 520
- Lifan 620
- Lifan 720
- Lifan Foison
- Lifan X60
- Lifan X50
- Lifan Mini Truck LF1022
- Lifan Truck
- Lifan LF6361/1010
Photos of Lifan’s different types of cars
(Photos Courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/)
