A cool Yema F12 SUV, seen in Beijing back in 2016. The Yema was in a fine shape, painted in black with the factory wheels. License plates are from Hebei Province. The Yema F12 was a wagon-like SUV manufactured from 2011 until 2014. This kind of ultra short production runs were very common at Yema.
The Yema F12 was essentially an updated and more luxurious variant of the Yema F99. Both cars were based on the platform of the ancient Austin Montego/Maestro.
MG-Rover sold this platform to the Chinese company Etsong in 1998. Etsong produced the Montego until 2000 and then sold the platform to First Auto Works (FAW), which in turn sold it to Yema a few years later. Yema used to platform to base several cars on, including the F99, the F16, the F12, and the F10.
On names: Yema is the brand name, Yema Auto the short name of the company, and Sichuan Yema Automobile is the company’s full name.
The Yema F12 looked nice enough with large headlights, and with factory standard roof rails, side boards, and a window spoiler. The wind deflectors on the windows and darkened windows are after-market extra’s.
The interior was more grown up than in the F99, but if it was more pretty is another question. The center stack featured extensive use of faux wood, and the same stuff was also on he doors, around the gear lever, and on the dash in front of the passenger’s side. The seats were in faux leather.
The Yema F12 was available with two petrol engines: a 1.5 with 95 hp and 130 Nm mated to a 5-speed manual and a 1.6 with 109 hp and 140 Nm mated to a CVT. Our black car has the 1.5 under the bonnet. Top speed was 150 kilometers per hour. Size of the Yema F12: 4163/1720/1630, with a 2515 wheelbase and a 1130 kg curb weight.
Price for all this pretty was just 49.800 yuan, which, amazingly, was even cheaper than the earlier F99, which sold for 58.800 yuan. The Yema brand was mainly sold in second and third tier cities in China, so they are very rare in the mega cities like Beijing and Shanghai.