Lifan Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. (Grup Lifan atau Lifan[2][3]力帆 "great sail"; SSE: 601777) adalah perusahaan swasta Tiongkok yang memproduksi sepeda motor dan mobil. Berpusat di Chongqing, perusahaan ini berdiri tahun 1992 dan mulai memproduksi mobil tahun 2005.[4]
Di Indonesia, sepeda motor Lifan didistribusikan oleh PT Yoriko Motor Perkasa. Produk populernya adalah Lifan LF-100A, yang merupakan kembaran dari Honda Supra, diluncurkan pada tahun 2000. Namun sayangnya perusahaan ini sudah bangkrut.
History
A Lifan truck, 2009
Lifan was founded by former political dissident Yin Mingshan in 1992 as a motorcycle repair shop with a staff of nine. Mingshan has a long history of conflict with government authority but currently enjoys a positive relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.[5] The company was originally called "Chongqing Hongda Auto Fittings Research Centre".[6] The company was renamed Lifan Industry Group in 1997.[6] It expanded into building buses in 2003.[7] As of 2004, Lifan was being referred to as "the largest private motorcycle manufacturer in China."[8] In 2009, it as the fifth-largest Chinese motorcycle maker.[4]
In 2003, Lifan acquired Chongqing Special Purpose Use Vehicle Manufacturing Co Ltd,[9] and 2005 saw the start of automobile production beginning with the LF6361/1010 minivan and pickup based on the 1999 Daihatsu Atrai. In December 2005, Lifan's first independently developed car entered production, the 520 sedan with a Brazilian Tritec engine.[7] As of 2011, Lifan makes a number of consumer offerings including the subcompact 320, the compact sedan and hatchback 520, the mid-sized 620 sedan, and the X60 compact SUV.[10]
Lifan made an IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in late-2010.[4] In 2011, Lifan's exchange-listed entity announced revenue of US$1.83 billion, and profits of US$62 million.[11]
Lifan entered into an agreement with Italian motorcycle manufacturer MV Agusta on July 4, 2014, to be MV Agusta's sole distributors in China. Lifan currently have a number of Agusta models on show at selected dealerships, including the F4 RR motorcycle.[12]
Founder Yin Mingshan and his family are worth US$1.3 billion as of 2014.[13]
Lifan's cash balance was 370 million yuan versus 3.1 billion yuan at the end of 2017. Lifan had only 450 million yuan out of 12.6 billion yuan worth of credit lines from 25 banks according to filings. In 2018, Lifan raised approximately 4 billion yuan selling land to the government and unit Lifan Motors to electric vehicle startup Li Auto.[3]
As of 2020, it was reported that Lifan's debt totaled 31 billion yuan ($4.4 billion) in June 2019, with 60% due within a year, while assets stood at 41.5 billion yuan according to company filings. News of Geely planning to takeover Lifan surfaced with the target being the market share in the southwest which Lifan mainly dominates.[14]
Trademark dispute with Honda Motor
In 2004, Lifan was ordered to cease selling motorcycles under the brand name "Hongda"—the culmination of a successful lawsuit brought by Honda Motors.[15] That same year Honda initiated a separate suit against Lifan this time for using badges similar to Honda's on its motorcycle products.[8]
Geely acquisition
On December 13, 2021, Geely Automobile announced that Geely intends to jointly invest in the establishment of a joint venture company with Lifan Technology. The registered capital of the target company is 600 million yuan RMB. Geely Holding and Lifan Technology will each invest 300 million yuan, each holding 50% of the shares. In other words, in the total shares of Lifan Technology, Geely will account for 34.7%, making Geely the controlling shareholder of the firm. The joint venture manufactures electric vehicles using Geely's existing platforms under the Maple brand.[16] As of January 2022, Geely announced that the joint venture with Lifan plans to build a battery swap ecosystem for electric cars. The first compatible car was launched in February 2021 as the Maple 60S.
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