This $5,000 Chinese Car Makes A Mini Look Smurfing Huge

3 months, 1 week ago - 26 August 2025, Carbuzz

If the Fiat 500e is too small and too expensive for you, then meet the Livian Smurf. Livian Auto is a Chinese brand owned by Geely, and has unveiled its brand-new micro-electric vehicle with the perfect name. It gets cuter, though, as the headlight design is called "Forest Spirit Eye," and it has 14-inch "Vibrant Pinwheel" wheels.

We'll be interested to see how the name plays out, though, as Smurf is a word trademarked by Studio Peyo, named after the pen name of the Smurfs' creator. The problem is that we don't see any clue that Livian has the right to use the name, and the Chinese government and Chinese companies are famous for not caring about intellectual property rights.

The Livian Smurf is tiny, measuring 10.1 feet long and 5.1 feet wide, but is basically a rebadged version of the also adorably named Geely Panda, which was launched in February 2023. The Smurf is available in the blue paint we see here, but also Sakura Pink, Castle Gray, and Forest Green. Amazingly, it costs 36,000 yuan, which is around $5,000, and competes in a segment that includes the QQ Icecream and Bestune Pony. This is definitely a segment with a firm demographic these brands are aiming to attract as customers.

Inside, the cuteness carries on with pastel colors, a two-spoke steering wheel, a rotary gear selector, and a floating central infotainment screen. Assuming it has the same screen as the Geely Panda, it's a 9.2-inch unit. Assuming carryover functionality once more, the car can be unlocked using Bluetooth, and the climate controls can be operated with an app.

Par for the price, the Livian Smurf has a single electric motor with a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery pack powering it. Like the Geely Panda, its output is just 40 hp with a top speed of 62 mph. There's no mention of a zero to 60 mph time, but we can safely assume it's not quick. The Panda has a reported range of 150 km, around 93 miles, and we assume nothing has changed there. That's not a big number, but for a tiny city car costing so little, it's perfectly adequate for the job.

Panda's Sales Were Disappointing, Can The Smurf Do Better?
According to the China EV DataTracker, Geely sold 101,514 units of the Panda from January to July this year. Considering the size of the Chinese market, that's not a huge number. One of the reasons the name may have been changed is that Geely is keen to get its Chinese-made cars into Europe, and Fiat will be protective of the Panda name. However, that would be right out of the frying pan and into the fire, as the Smurf name is Belgian, and the Smurfs were part of many Europeans' childhoods.

Our best guess is that the name change is just a marketing ploy. The Smurfs are big enough in China that there's one of three Smurf theme parks in Shanghai, so it's possible there is an agreement inked out somewhere. The others are in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Moscow, Russia. Give it another couple of years, and the cute little city EV might get another name change. Maybe the Geely Minion and its launch color will be yellow.