The Flyer was originally built by Qinchuan Machinery Works (part of
Norinco/the People's Liberation Army in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province) as their first 'original' car since the
Beifang QJC7050 mini car. As Qinchuan had been making a version of the
Suzuki Alto as the Xianalto QCJ7080 since 1992, they used the platform of the Alto (also used for the
Maruti 800 and various other Chinese makes) for the QCJ7081 Flyer, which was sold under the Qinchuan marque from 2001. After BYD bought Qinchuan Auto, the car was facelifted in October 2003 and become BYD's first car, The cars were shown at various motor shows (including the Beijing and the Guangzhou auto shows), but none made it to production, with BYD continuing to produce the original model under their own brand. In 2005, sales of the Flyer I commenced under the BYD marque. ==Engines==