BYD F3 goes into volume production in Russia

Shanghai December 1 (Gasgoo.com) BYD's F3 compact car has gone into volume production at Russian automaker Taganrog's plant early last month, with a planned output of 10,000 units for 2010, Kommersant reported. 

Taganrog has recently signed a contract worth $3.6 million with BYD, a Chinese carmaker backed by US billionaire Warren Buffett, for manufacturing the F3 cars. Volume production was scheduled to start this summer, with 10,000 units expected to roll off the assembly line before the end of this year, Taganrog said.

The F3 looks quite similar in front appearance to the ninth generation Toyota Corolla and back appearance to the Honda Fit Aria, and is the top selling compact sedan in China.

When it comes to the power system, the F3 features a four cylinder, 1.5 liter, Mitsubishi Orion engine (4G15S) with distributor-less Bosch ignition and fuel injection, which is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission - similar to that used in the Mitsubishi Colt, Galant and Mirage vehicles.

On top of that, the car boasts Euro 4 emissions standards. Engine output is 75KW (100hp). Fuel efficiency is rated at approximately 7L/100KM (40mpg).

Since entering the Russian market in 2005, BYD has sold 10,800 vehicles, of which 5,341 units were sold in 2008.