Recently, we learned from Lifan officially that Lifan Group has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Brilliance Auto in Uruguay to jointly develop the South American market. The two parties will carry out in-depth cooperation in technology research and development, production, marketing and other aspects to jointly promote the development of Chinese brand vehicles in South America.
According to the agreement, Lifan Group relies on its own factory in Uruguay to share 18,000 vehicle production capacity with Brilliance Automotive within three years. The first year of production is 3,000 units, the second year is 5,000 units, and the third year is 10,000 units.
The complete vehicle produced in cooperation with Brilliance Auto in Uruguay will be considered as a duty-free vehicle entering Brazilian market, which can reduce the tariff of 35% compared with the vehicle export from China, and the price of the whole vehicle will be reduced, it will be further enhanced the competitiveness of new cars in the local market .
Lifan Auto was not the first to involve overseas auto business. As early as the establishment of its brand, Lifan insisted on international business management. At present, Lifan Auto has established production bases for automobiles and motorcycles in more than 10 countries including Vietnam, Thailand, Russia, Ethiopia and Uruguay. Lifan is also the largest private import and export enterprise in Chongqing China.
Although Lifan has been marginalized in the Chinese automobile market, its overseas business performance is very bright. Lifan has been the highest-selling Chinese automobile brand in the Russian market for 7 consecutive years. It has been the highest-selling Chinese car brand in the Ethiopian market for 8 consecutive years, it has won the Brazilian Chinese brand car sales championship for two consecutive years. These achievements show that Lifan’s overseas business strategy is very successful.
However, in the Chinese competitive environment, Lifan clearly did not keep up with the pace of other car companies. Due to the losses in the domestic Lifan auto sector, Lifan has transferred Chongqing Lifan Automobile Co., Ltd. to Chongqing Xinfan Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd., which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of CHJAutomotive (a EV auto maker new force in China).
However, although the domestic automobile business has suffered setbacks, Lifan Auto has a very broad space for development overseas. And this time with the cooperation of Brilliance Auto, the two are the same as Chinese veteran auto manufacturing enterprises, the two sides will join hands and the overall strength of their new car will also be strengthened. Moreover, the previous rumors about the bankruptcy of Lifan Auto should also be broken.
