Avichina/Hafei and Pininfarina

The agreement signed with Hafei Industrial Group Corporation dates back to May 1996. The first result was the Zhongyi minivan, to which Pininfarina contributed its expertise in the areas of styling, design and industrialisation. The Zhongyi, which made its debut at the Beijing Motor Show in 1999, was produced and commercialized in China in around 100.000 units per year

Following the success of the minivan, early in 2001 Hafei entrusted Pininfarina with the styling and design of the Lobo, a city car which was mass produced in China from November 2002. In September 2001, a third contract was signed, covering the styling, design, prototypes and testing of another new vehicle realized to meet European homologation standards.

In 2002, at the Beijing Motor Show, Pininfarina presented on Hafei’s stand HF Fantasy concept car, a pure stylistic interpretation of the 3-box sporty saloon theme.

In 2005 Pininfarina exhibited on its stand at the Geneva International Motor Show the styling model of a 3-box 5 seats saloon of the Saibao family. Like previous partnerships, for this, Pininfarina has been responsible for styling, engineering and homologation to European standards. Then, in 2006, at the Beijing Motor Show, was unveiled on the Avichina’s stand the Saibao V, 3-box saloon manufactured at the Avichina plants in Harbin.