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)
