Its spacious interiors, advanced technology and excellent performance in terms of safety, reliability and environment friendliness have made customers warmly welcome the Vita, a compact car produced by Tianjin First Automotive Works Corp (Tianjin FAW).

 

Spending about three years and 300 million yuan in research and development, Tianjin FAW presented Vita to the market in October last year.

 

In addition to such standard features as the anti-lock braking system (ABS), airbags and automatic windows, this new model is particularly attractive to consumers because of its fashionable design, easy control and a powerful engine, comment experts and drivers.

 

Exterior design

 

"Unlike the roundness of the Vizi, another Tianjin FAW model, Vita uses more straight lines in its exterior design, giving you a feeling of strength," said Liu Hanming, an editor with Automobile Fans magazine.

 

Xu Yu, a reporter with the Automobile magazine, said she is especially impressed by the front lights of Vita. "They just resemble the eyes of the Beijing Opera mask."

 

Zhang Lei, an Automobile and You magazine reporter, said the Vita's large interiors are a major attraction for customers.

 

The Vita is 3,855 mm long and 1,680 mm wide, which is 215 mm and 20 mm more respectively than that of the Vizi.

 

The acoustic system of Vita seems to be tailor-made for youngsters, as it features a USB connector that allows the system to be directly connected to MP3 players.

 

Vita uses the 1.3-liter Toyota 8A engine. With a maximum power output of 64 kilowatts, the engine ensures strong power support for the car with a net weight of 965 kg. The engine also features low noise and low maintenance costs.

 

In addition, the five-speed gearbox offers convenience in speed control.

 

Safety performance

 

With respect to its safety performance, Vita is the first automobile independently developed by domestic automakers to pass the four-category crash test conducted by the China Automobile Technology Research Center.

 

The test, conducted on June 30 last year, included 100 percent front crash, side crash, rear crash and 40 percent side crash. The test results showed Vita meeting all national safety standards for automobiles.

 

In February 2007, Tianjin FAW sent the Vita, along with other models, to Australia to undergo the OBD system test to examine the automobile's operation status in conditions of high temperature and high pressure. Results of the test indicate that the quality of Vita, as well as of other Tianjin FAW models, fully meet international standards. This has helped it earn a passport to the international market.

 

Because of its excellent performance, Vita was rated by the China Central Television (CCTV) as the economical car of the year in 2006. This is the second time Tianjin FAW won the nation's most authoritative automobile award after its Xiali model won the title of CCTV's homegrown car brand of the year in 2005.

 

Tour of harmony

 

To present this new car model to domestic and foreign customers and further test its comprehensive performances, Tianjin FAW launched the 2006 Tour of Harmony for Vita.

 

The fleet, consisting of four Vita cars, two supporting vehicles and a TV broadcasting vehicle, started from the Shanhai Pass, the first pass of the Great Wall, on September 27, 2006, and arrived in Cairo on November 9.

 

The tour, spanning 40 days and covering a distance of 20,000 km, included eight countries in its path- China, Pakistan, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Egypt.

 

Co-sponsored by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Chinese-Arab Friendship Association, the tour was also one of the events held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Arab countries.

 

"This is one of the largest people-to-people exchange events that has covered the longest time period and distance since the founding of the New China, and it is the longest cross-boundary tour conducted by a homegrown economical car fleet in China," said Wang Gang, president of Tianjin FAW.

 

"Starting from the Great Wall and ending at the Pyramids of Egypt, the tour also connected the two great ancient civilizations of the world," he added.

 

The tour was also a perfect test for the quality of the Vita.

 

Relying on its high quality, the Vita has overcome various challenges such as deserts, mountains, high temperature and extreme cold on the high plateaus.

 

As an extension of the cross-boundary tour, Tianjin FAW also launched another "tour of harmony" to cover major domestic cities on January 27, 2007.

 

Starting from Nanjing in Jiangsu Province, the Vita fleet visited eight large Chinese cities including Chengdu and Shanghai. This large roadshow was aimed at helping customers get familiar with this high-quality compact car.

 

Homegrown brand

 

Tianjin FAW is an important compact car production base for the FAW Group - being the birthplace of both the Vita and the Xiali.

 

Tianjin FAW plays an important role in FAW Group's homegrown brand strategy.

 

According to the strategy, FAW Group will have an annual production of 2 million automobiles by the end of the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10), while the annual output of independently developed automobiles will reach 1 million units.

 

Tianjin FAW plans to take up 40 percent of the indigenously developed automobiles market, which means that its production capacity will increase from the present 200,000 units to 400,000 units in 2010.

 

With its 20-year history of developing compact cars and benefiting from successful cooperation with famous international automakers like Toyota, Tianjin FAW has developed a strong capability to produce high-quality compact cars and key spare parts like engines.

 

Incorporating international expertise in design and manufacturing, Tianjin FAW is now devoting all its efforts to building a high-quality car manufacture platform of international standard, of which the Vita is an excellent result.

 

(China Daily November 20, 2007)