Lifan’s first SUV to launch in Beijing Auto Show
Lifan’s first SUV is preparing to launch at the Beijing Auto Show where it will no doubt prove a hit with consumers in second and third tier cities. Lifan has already proven itself to be a big seller to second and third tier cities where its vehicles are welcomed due to their low prices and fuel economy, Lifan do appear to be following the same strategy as their motorbike development which started by selling to outlaying rural areas rather than focusing on the cities.
The SUV itself was originally written up on CCT and Chinese automotive sites as being a RAV4 clone, although similarities remain it does look like the Lifan SUV does have a fairly unique style of its own.
Engine power will be derived from the 1.6L Tritec engine that Lifan uses in its other vehicles, whilst power maybe low it will appeal to rural buyers who are eager to take advantage of the low tax on small cars and take to the roads.
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santa-fe with warped headlights?
no.
lifan the bottom feeder..
too bad you are not good enough for it to feed.
Less fuel economy makes the Lifan more futuristic. Lifan 320 is one of the my Favorites. Lifan 620 also the the nice one.
You know, WHY is it that the first comments always have to be a comparison to something else? It seems like that’s the “in” thing nowadays…..let’s compare EVERY chinese car that’s introduced right now to something else – no matter HOW VAGUE OR INACCURATE the comparison is. Are there some similarities here? Of course – but then again the Chevy Malibu has similarities to a Ford Mondeo……and gee, doesn’t that Accord look similiar to the Camry nowadays? SOME cars/companies deserve our wrath – think F3, F0, Peri, Coolbear…….but Lifan doesn’t deserve the “instant comparison game”. They DO make a effort to show some originality, and I respect that.
How about the Mini Cooper knock off. Hard to respect any company that knocked something off recently. Let that fade into the past first.
Every company has its problems, this is a very nice looking SUV, at the very least. The 320 has nothing to do with this model.
You are right for once Ed. But I was just responding to Joininchina who forgot about it.
I THOUGHT someone would bring up the 320, so let’s clarify it. The 320 does NOT share the same wheelbase, length, width or height as the Mini Cooper, the 320 is a 4 door car compared to the 2 door Mini Cooper (yes I know the Clubman has 4 doors) and the interiors are NOT EVEN CLOSE. Are the similarities? Yes, there are – to me it’s obvious that Lifan wanted the 320 to be SIMILAR to the Mini Cooper, but NOT A KNOCK OFF. The Peri/F0? Now THESE are knock offs (the Peri especially so, even down to the interior). Like I said before, let’s give Lifan SOME credit for having SOME originality ok?
You are right that it is not a complete knock off. They did their best to knock off the styling at the lowest possible costs though which comes out slightly different. There is no doubt that they wanted it to look like a MINI but didn’t want to put the money in to really pull it off.
Interesting viewpoint Honcho, and I can see some merit in it. I THINK though, that if Lifan really wanted to copy the Mini Cooper (albeit with lower quality materials) and maintain the cost they now sell the 320 at, they could have. We’ve already seen the Peri/F0 and even the QQ sold in the 30,000-40,000rmb price range, yet maintaining virtually the exact dimensions of the cars they were copying (Fiat Panda, Toyota Aygo and Daewoo Matiz). We’ve all screamed (the consumer in general) ‘plagarism’, ‘copycat’, knock off’ and other epithets regarding the 3 cars I just mentioned……..and honestly, we can’t really use those words with the 320. I think Lifan made a CHOICE here to NOT copy the Mini Cooper…….they just emulated the more dominant design aspects but maintained their own “flavor” overall. Nothing wrong with that, and I think we should still consider Lifan one of the “good guys”.
If they wanted to keep the cost down, then they WOULD HAVE copied everything. Lifan deserves credit, at least for this SUV.
No they wouldn’t have. If they want to keep cost down they do exactly what they did. Use parts off of other cars and just create some new sheet metal to go over it. Making all new parts if more expensive.
Joininchina. They could have copied it to look like a Mini cooper but not drive like one. None of the copying Chinese companies seem to care about much other than the look being the same. The Mini isn’t the best looking car out there if you noticed but it does drive really nice.
The point is, they did not intend to copy a Mini, they would’ve done it very easily. Nothing is similar to any of the Mini models.
*could’ve
Ed no they couldn’t have or they would have.
Copying someone else’s design is very easy. If you haven’t noticed with Chinese cars from a decade ago. You just can’t cut them any slack, can you?
A decade ago? Right now. I will cut them slack when they shape up to respectable companies and quit putting out junk.
CAN’T YOU GUYS EVER GIVE IT A REST???? Once again, what WAS a somewhat relevant and interesting thread has turned into nothing more than mudslinging between the two of you. Do you have ANY idea how childish and immature you both sound? IF Ash decides to shut this thread down, I don’t blame him one damn bit. Have you guys forgotten that we’re here to SHARE our different opinions – and not rip or shred someone else apart just because we don’t agree with them! PLEASE grow up and help give this website a more respectable image…..and save Ash the hassle of shutting down ANOTHER thread because of immature posters.
Lifan makes great 110cc motorcycle engines. Never had a problem with mine.
the girls black dress is a nice looking one…