Lifan Group was founded in 1992 and began the manufactured in Chongqing, China. In 2005 has began the manufactured automobiles, whit license- build microvans ans small sedan developed by Lifan themselves.

　　Lifan's vehicle products include passenger cars, microvans, dirt bike engines, entry-level motorcycles, mini-vehicles, and commercial trucks. The company's non-vehicle-related activities include the manufacture of sports shoes and winemaking. Outside of China, Lifan is currently best known for the sale of small passenger cars in emerging markets.

　　Lifan was founded by former political dissident Yin Mingshan in 1992 as a motorcycle repair shop with a staff of nine. Mingshan has a long history of conflict with government authority but currently enjoys a good relationship with the Chinese Communist Party. The company was originally called "Chongqing Hongda Auto Fittings Research Centre". Becoming the fifth-largest Chinese motorcycle maker in only seventeen years, the company was renamed Lifan Industry Group in 1997. It expanded into building buses in 2003. As of 2004, Lifan was being referred to as "the largest private motorcycle manufacturer in China.

　　In 2004, Lifan was ordered to cease selling motorcycles under the brand name "Hongda"- the culmionation of a successful lawsuit brought bh Honda Motors.