Place: Guangzhou, Guangdong Province
<p>Chinese name: 中顺世纪 (zhōngshùn shìjì)
Year of launch: 2002
</p>
Polarsun is a Chinese carmaker which is mostly known for producing a Toyota Hiace/Jinbei knockoff. The company started as the Shenyang Military Region Logistics Department car repair shop in 1965. It changed its name to Songliao Automobile Works in 1983 and in 1993 the Songliao Automobile company was created. Polarsun (Zhongshun) gained vehicle production rights in 2002 and started producing the Century, one of many old Toyota Hiace copies, with an interesting front end which seems to be inspired by Nissan's design language of the same era. Polarsun showcased many interesting prototypes which never made it into production, including the MPV, SUV (copy of the Ford Escape/Mazda Tribute), MPV-A (similar to FAW Freewind), MPV-B (copy of the first generation Mazda Premacy) and MPV-C (copy of the first generation Honda Fit/Jazz). And there is yet another Toyota Hilux or Isuzu pick-up based Honda CR-V copy. The brand no longer exists.
Rutger van der Maar
CC BY 2.0
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