Currently reading: New Chinese brand for Honda
Honda launches standalone upmarket brand for Chinese market

Honda stunned car industry observers in Beijing by announcing the establishment of a new standalone brand aimed exclusively at the Chinese market. Li Nian is modelled on Toyota’s successful North American brand, Scion, and is planned to support a range of youth-orientated models – the first of which is this five-door mini-SUV that is planned to go on sale in 2010. Based on the same front-wheel drive platform as the Jazz, its edgy styling, which some show goers speculated was inspired by the recently unveiled Ford Fiesta, was created at Honda’s Chinese design studio and is said to set the tone for other future models. There is no official word on specifications, Autocar has it on good authority the new Honda will use a 1.8-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine.Li Nian was created in a joint venture with Honda’s long-time partner, the Guangzhou Automobile Group. Together they have spent heavily to create the infrastructure to support the new line-up, which is also expected to include both city cars and small hatchbacks by the middle of next decade.

Greg Kable

Go to the next Beijing motor show article.

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superstevie 21 April 2008

Re: New Chinese brand for Honda

At least honda has got into the Chinese car maker tradition of ripping off other car makers designs! The Fiesta has bearly been launched, and this is a total copy! Mind you thats no bad thing, as both Fiesta and this Li Nian are pretty neat designs.

If I were Ford I wouldnt be too happy at the moment