Haima
Haima Motor is a Chinese car brand under First Auto Works (FAW). The Haima brand began as a joint venture between Hainan Auto and Mazda, which inspired the Haima name, and later became a fully-owned brand under FAW. Haima is based in Hainan, the sunny island province in the South China Sea. Today, Haima sells a mix of ICE and EV models.
The Haima 3 was a compact car. Haima sold a 4-door sedan and a 5-door hatchback, like the car in the photos. The Haima 3 was largely based on the ninth-generation Mazda 323/Familia. Haima sold the 3 from 2007 to 2013.
Haima 3 – Interior
The interior was quite nice, spacious, with a hint of luxury. It had 3 sporty dials, like a Mazda, and a center stack loaded with buttons and dials. It also had an audio system with a radio and a CD player. The rear-view mirror is mounted on the windshield, which was quite rare for the time.
The rear seats had integrated headrests, which was rare as well. To protect the original cloth seats, the owner has fitted high-quality seat covers.
Haima 3 – specifications
The badge on the front fender lacks the S and the X for the SDX trim level. Haina offered two engine variants: a 1.6 and a 1.8, mated to a 5-speed manual or a CVT. The car in the photos is the 1.6 CVT model, the full name of which was the Haima 3 SDX 1.6 Automatic.
The output of the .6-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine was 120 hp and 158 Nm. It had a 170 km/h top speed, and 0-100 took 8.6 seconds. Size: 4400/1740/1466, with a 2607 wheelbase and a 1350 kg curb weight.
The rear with a roof spoiler, fancy light units, a large Haima logo, and the Haima 3 name in a font that resembles Mazda’s font.
Characters: 海马汽车, Hǎimǎ Qìchē, Haima Motor. The price of the hatchback model in 2013 was 105.600 yuan. The Haima 3 is quite rare nowadays, especially in megacities like Beijing, but in smaller cities, some may still be around.
It has a cool Haima-branded metal license plate frame. These frames were popular in the 2000s. Dealers and repair shops offered many variants for little money. The Beijing government banned the frames in the late 2010s, but it didn’t enforce the ban. However, owners had to take the frames off the cars during the annual inspection procedure, which, in China, happens at government-owned inspection centers. Take off the frames, have the car inspected, and put the frames back on. Well, it kept everybody busy.