SUV model Myway

Lifan, a medium-sized OEM headquartered in Chongqing, is a privately-owned company of the Lifan Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. group (referred to below as the Lifan Group), which only develops Lifan brand vehicles while many Chinese OEMs are joint ventures with foreign OEMs. The Lifan Group began as a manufacturer of motorcycles in 1992. It later entered the automobile industry. Lifan discontinued production of its compact sedan in 2004. Unit sales of Lifan Motors were 272,000 units, down 1.4% year-over-year (y/y) in 2016, showing negligible growth. During January - October, 2017, sales increased by 18.0% to 223,000 units, with the MPV Xuanlang and its commercial vehicle models contributing to the increase. In 2016, the sales volume of the New Energy Vehicle (NEV) was as low as several thousand units. Lifan is reinventing themselves as a new company at a rapid pace, creating an organization that includes battery-related projects. It is confident it will be able to meet its production target for NEVs of 300,000 units by the end of 2020.

Lifan Motors accelerated its overseas development around 2010. In particular, in the Russian market it boasts the largest sales volume of any Chinese OEM. In 2015, it announced plans to build a wholly-owned plant in Russia. It also entered the car sharing services business in Russia in November, 2017.

Related Reports:
The first half of 2017 in the Chinese market: 13.35 million vehicles sold, growth rate falls (Sept. 2017)
Auto Shanghai 2017 (Part 4): Geely, Great Wall Motor, BYD, Chery, JAC, Zotye, Lifan, and more (Jul. 2017)