File:Lifan 620 1.6, rear.jpg

English: Place: Liping, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province

Chinese name: 力帆620 (lìfān 620) Year of launch: 2008

The history of Lifan is quite similar to that of Geely: both are independent companies founded by a charismatic businessman and initially made motorcycles until starting car production. Lifan was founded in Chongqing in 1992 as a motorcycle repair shop with a staff of nine by Yin Mingshan. He formerly was a political dissident that spent 7 years in labour camps as a punishment for his capitalistic tendencies, but currently enjoys a good relationship with the Chinese Communist party. Good to know. Lifan started producing its first car in 2005, a copy of the Daihatsu Atrai, but that same year it launched the 520, an indigenous development, though using the platform of the Citroën ZX/Fukang. In 2008 Lifan launched two new models: the 320 and 620. The 320 is a cheap hatchback, clearly inspired by the Mini, but not to the extent of being a copycat. Geely and Lifan might initially have followed a similar path, but Geely is currently clearly the more successful car company. Lifan sold an impressive 151,155 cars in 2008, compared to Geely with 221,786, though Lifan's sales collapsed completely in the year after. The carmaker had its best year in 2012, but its sales have declined ever since. Only this year its sales are back up thanks to the Maiwei. Lifan is quite successful in export markets and is the most popular Chinese carmaker in Russia for some years now.