Lifan Group
Lifan ( Chinese:力帆Li Fan, German. Powerful sail ) is a Chinese manufacturer of passenger cars, trucks, commercial vehicles and motorcycles, headquartered in Chongqing. The company was founded in 1992 by Yin Mingshan (尹明善).
The company was originally founded for the production of motorcycles and had to start only nine employees. First product was a small motorcycle Lifan TMS 200 A few months after the foundation already followed by other products such as dirt bikes and other motorcycles of the TMS series.
The market success Lifan became one of the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the People's Republic of China and currently employs about 9,000 people. In addition, Lifan built including in Vietnam and Thailand on production.
In automotive manufacturing, the company grew in 2002 with the Lifan 520. This was initially offered only as a saloon and mid-2007, supplemented by a small car. 2003, it finally took then to the production of trucks. First truck model was the Lifan LF180, reminiscent of a heavily modified IVECO truck. When the Lifan LF230 second model was introduced, which is a modified version of an older Magirus -Deutz truck. In 2004, the Yunnan Lifan Junma Vehicle - vehicle factory was founded in Dali as a joint venture between Lifan and trading company Junma. In Dali light and heavy trucks and tractors are produced. The foundation of the subsidiary Shanghai Zhongke Lifan Automobile Co. was announced on 16 March 2010 in a joint venture with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which deals with the development of electric cars.
Through an IPO in November 2010 Lifan was converted on the Shanghai Stock Exchange into a corporation.
The Group also owns the football club Chongqing Lifan.
Lifan to international markets
The trucks of the brand enjoying worldwide success and are sold in many countries of Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East. In 2003, Lifan also received joint venture deals and production requests. So the first Lifan model for Europe in Ukraine was produced by the group AwtoSAS as ZAZ Lifan 520, but remained only until the end of 2006 production. As part of the ongoing globalization of the Group to handle the same year according to the American market. To summarize there as well walk, one first began to import motorcycles to North America. Target markets are the United States of America, Mexico and Canada. 2007, a supplement to the car model was made. As a new mid-range model of the Lifan 620 was introduced in the People's Republic of China. This is very similar to the Chinese version of the Toyota Corolla and is ranked one level above the Lifan 520 The second vehicle was introduced in the Lifan 320 This is similar to the Mini One and remembers from the front also to the Japanese Daihatsu Duet. In September, the production of Lifan 520 as Holland ABAY 1292 was added cc in Ethiopia; it is exported as a successor to the expired ZAZ Lifan 520 Lifan 520 under the original name in the Ukraine. The first European sister model of the Lifan 520 is produced since 2009 by the Italian carmaker Martin Motors as MM520 and will soon be available in Germany.
Exports to the European Union but not yet planned by the Lifan Group. Previously available within the EU only the Lifan motorcycles of types Lifan LF125 Lifan LF150 and which imported from some dealers and are manufactured in a Bulgarian factory.