Hafei

Brand Overview

Hafei was one of China's most representative micro‑vehicle brands. It was incubated by the Chinese aviation industry system and was once China's first automotive enterprise to export complete vehicles, as well as a pioneer and founder in the micro‑vehicle field. In automotive history, both "Hafei" and "Songhua River" were awarded Chinese Well‑Known Trademarks. The brand was once listed in the "China's Top 500 Most Valuable Brands" ranking.

As a backbone enterprise of China's automotive industry, Hafei created several milestone industry firsts: it held the champion title for micro‑vehicle production and sales volume in China for three consecutive years; it was the first to export passenger cars of Chinese independent brands overseas, becoming the "leading force" of China's automotive exports at the time. However, with drastic changes in the market environment and industrial landscape, this northern automaker—carrying the car memories of a generation—after experiencing asset restructuring, independent production stoppage, and strategic restructuring, finally embarked on a transformation path driven by R&D to break through bottlenecks.

Development History

Hafei's history can be traced back to the 1980s, originating from the Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Company. Against the backdrop of the national strategy of "conversion from military to civilian use," Hafei, relying on the manufacturing accumulation of the aviation industry, began R&D of civil automobiles.

Exploration Start: Leveraging the Micro‑Vehicle Market. In 1980, Harbin Aircraft Industry Group officially entered the automotive manufacturing field. In 1982, Hafei developed the first "Songhua River"‑branded WJ110 single‑cab micro‑truck; in 1986, it successfully developed the Songhua River HFJ6350 van. These two "flagship products," focusing on economic practicality, quickly became popular. At its peak, annual sales exceeded 100,000 vehicles, and domestic market share reached as high as 22.92% at one point.

Speeding Up: Standing at the Forefront. In 1994, Hafei was reformed into a shareholding enterprise. Subsequently, by cooperating with the famous Italian design company Pininfarina, it developed micro‑van models like the "Zhongyi" that connected with international standards, greatly improving product design and quality. After entering the new century, Hafei marched forward: from 2000 to 2002, it won the number one position in domestic micro‑vehicle production and sales volume for three consecutive years. At its peak in 2009, annual sales reached over 200,000 vehicles, with cumulative production and sales approaching 2.7 million vehicles. In the era led by Hafei, "Wuling" and "Changan" at that time, still in their starting stages, could not match it.

Drastic Change: Decline and Pivot. However, with the rapid upgrade of China's automotive consumption, the explosive power at the bottom of the micro‑vehicle market began to wane. Starting from 2010, Hafei sales slumped significantly, dropping sharply to 21,000 vehicles in 2013. In the same year, due to a broken capital chain, Hafei's own‑brand vehicle production fell into a complete stoppage in August 2014. The stagnation of complete vehicles led to idle production lines, which were completely converted into contract manufacturing bases for models under the Changan Group.

Asset Restructuring: Breaking Ice to Survive. Even though the brand's vehicle production stopped, Hafei's qualifications and assets still held strategic value. In 2024, Hafei Automobile entered judicial bankruptcy reorganisation, ultimately completed by Hafei Group and Harbin Cloud Valley Automobile Industry Development Co., Ltd. jointly making a strategic restructuring. In November 2025, Hafei Group listed for transfer the remaining 33% equity it held, with a base price of only 1 RMB. As of May 2026, cumulative production and sales of various complete vehicles reached 1.43 million, of which 40,000 were exported, with production and sales of engines reaching 2.72 million units.

New Journey: R&D First. In March 2026, Harbin Hafei Automobile Engineering R&D Co., Ltd. was officially registered, wholly held by Hafei Automobile. The new company focuses on automotive and motorcycle parts and new material R&D, marking that the former micro‑vehicle giant is attempting to transform into a "light‑asset, high‑value‑added" innovation incubator, aiming directly at the electrification and intelligence wave of the automotive "New Four Modernisations."

Product Lineup

Before Hafei's production stoppage, its product matrix covered micro‑trucks, micro‑buses, economy sedans, and mid‑size sedans across five major series, once possessing nearly ten well‑known sub‑brands with high market visibility. Cumulative vehicle production and sales approached 2.7 million units.

Micro Commercial Vehicle Series: This was the strongest pillar of Hafei's national popularity. Including the Songhua River Micro Trucks, Hafei Minyi, Hafei Xiao Ba Wang, Zhongyi V5, Junyi, and others. These models were mostly equipped with independently developed Dongan Series Powertrains, with prices covering the range of 29,800–57,300 RMB, once occupying vast urban and rural logistics and passenger carriage markets.

Economy Sedan Series: Around the turn of the millennium, Hafei launched the Saibao and Saima to enter the passenger car market—representative models of the early transition of micro‑vehicle enterprises to the family sedan field in China. The Hafei Saima gained a good reputation thanks to its spacious interior; the Hafei Lubao was then a popular representative of micro family sedans, winning the champion of the "China Auto Fuel Economy Elite Meeting."

New Energy Pioneer: Around 2008, Hafei walked ahead of domestic independent brands in the new energy field. The Hafei Saibao All‑Electric Sedan became the first domestic three‑box all‑electric sedan to enter the national production catalogue and once participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics demonstration operation.

Contract Manufacturing Services: After the stoppage of independent brands, Hafei's production bases were transformed into OEM supporting factories for the Changan Automobile system, undertaking parts and final assembly business for some models to maintain basic operations.

Core Technologies

Hafei's technology accumulation can be summarised as "aviation‑grade quality, micro‑vehicle platformisation, independent powertrain," and its technical system can be traced back to the following aspects.

Aviation System Process Standards. Relying on Hafei Group's aviation industry background to produce automobiles, Hafei's factory construction standards—in terms of car steel plate material selection, body stamping precision, and welding quality—were extremely prominent among micro‑van enterprises at the time.

Platform‑Based R&D System. At its technical peak, Hafei formed dual‑platform R&D capabilities for micro‑vehicles and sedans, and possessed mature stamping, welding, painting, and assembly processes and a production base with an annual capacity of 400,000 vehicles.

M‑Tech Powertrain. Hafei series models were all equipped with Dongan Power Engines. Hafei independently integrated and developed the M‑Tech (Multi‑technology) Powertrain, representing the advanced technical level of "high power, low fuel consumption" in the micro‑vehicle field. The Zhongyi V5, built on this technology, also had better fuel consumption than same‑level rivals—a typical case of early micro‑vehicles applying engine friction reduction and intake/exhaust optimisation.

Forward‑Looking Electrification Layout. Hafei was one of the earliest independent brands to master mass production of pure electric vehicles. This ability to "embrace electrification" first was a unique gene not possessed by many emerging automakers later.

International Design Empowerment. Starting with Hafei's "Zhongyi," Hafei continued to cooperate with Italian Pininfarina, making its vehicles go international in design style and details.

Global Footprint

Hafei pioneered the "organised batch" export of Chinese independent brands in opening up the international market and was long listed among the front runners of China's automotive export enterprises.

Global Marketing Network: Hafei was one of the first batch of Chinese automakers to enter overseas markets. Flagship products "Songhua River" and "Hafei Zhongyi" were exported in batches to over 30 countries and regions such as the Middle East, North Africa, Central and South America, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia, and once ranked among the top in China's automotive export ranking for consecutive years.

Complete Knock‑Down (CKD) Export Trade: Hafei also explored an operational path of CKD export and overseas assembly, and through laying out distributor networks overseas, attempted to construct China's early "light‑asset export" model.

Future Outlook

Entering 2026, Hafei's situation is undergoing fundamental change. The transformation from a traditional complete vehicle manufacturer to a solution provider is the opening move for Hafei to start a new journey.

Technology Empowerment: Lightening the Load. The newly established Engineering R&D Company is not responsible for complete vehicle manufacturing but is committed to automotive parts, new materials, software, and industrial technology R&D. Hafei expects to rely on the automotive industry supply chain in the Northeast region and its existing precision processing foundation to create an electrification "R&D enclave" outside Southwest and East China.

Exploring Asset Activation: The OEM Model. The restructured Hafei no longer blindly pursues independent vehicle production restart but uses idle space, production lines, and qualifications to digest capacity through contract manufacturing and supporting, while jointly introducing new strategic projects with the Harbin Economic and Technological Development Zone.

New Energy and Commercial Vehicles in Parallel. In the process of transformation and breakthrough, Hafei plans to use original qualifications to find "niche and elegant" market segment synergistic breakthroughs in new energy logistics vehicles, specialised modified vehicles, and other fields.

Cooperation, M&A, and Qualification Revitalisation. With 33% equity listed at a base price of 1 RMB and the subsequent leadership of state‑owned capital, Hafei's core intangible assets—such as its vehicle production catalogue—are also updated. In the future, it can flexibly provide qualification authorisation and cooperative licensing for third‑party new car‑making forces or new capital, completing the transformation from a "heavy‑asset factory" to a "light‑asset intelligent source."

The Hafei of the past may be regarded as a figure receding in the youth of a generation, but today's Hafei is looking for the next trump card for rejuvenation in a lighter and more technological way. This domestic old brand, born in Northeast China, is standing at the critical juncture of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, facing the future Automotive R&D 4.0 Era.