Shanghai Clone Wars: Lifan 320 aka the Chinese MINI Cooper

Take a close look at the sign behind the Lifan 320, it reads "Innovation Lifan, Quality Lifan". Now gaze upon the 320; what an innovative -and poorly executed- ripoff of the MINI! The 320 is one of the many China-made clones that filled the booths of various automakers at the Shanghai Show. Lifan's minicar that pays an undesirable tribute to the new MINI's design has been on sale in China since 2008.

It is offered exclusively with a 1.3-liter gasoline engine producing a puny 80-horsepower and 110Nm of torque that launches (...) the British flared five-door hatch to 100km/h from standstill in 14.5 sec. The car's top speed is electronically limited -just kidding- to 155km/h or 96mph.

Lifan 3-Series: Chinese Create 5door MINI Cooper Clone!

Here we go again; the list with Chinese knockoffs has been enhanced with the addition of a MINI clone made by a carmaker called Lifan. The Lifan 3-Series (how ironic…) was introduced to the Chinese media today, and according to the translation we made from the clonemaker’s official site, the MINI(cat) will go on sale in China during the first half of the year.

Amusingly, Lifan decided to create a 5-door version of BMW Group’s MINI. Even though the Lifan 320 is somewhat disproportioned compared to the original MINI, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the resemblances between the two cars. Check out other Chinese clones here: Cadillac, Smart, Fiat Panda, Scion & Toyota RAV-4 -More pictures of the Chinese MINI after the jump

Official Statement (translated from Chinese)

Tencent vehicle - Recently, the Lifan 320 Weijiao finally lifted the veil of mystery. We have seen through the picture, Lifan The compact cars and MINI very similar, will produce cars there will not be much change. No accident, the first half of this year, this compact cars will be met with consumers. Reportedly, which amounted to 2.6 m wheelbase cars.

Via: Le Blog Auto , Images via: Lefan