Tesla, NIO, Xpeng face a new rival as Peugeot’s Chinese partner Dongfeng launches all-electric brand Voyah to claim its turf in China’s intensifying EV war

The first all-electric Voyah model will be launched in July, with a range of up to 500 kilometres (310 miles) on a single charge

The basic model, expected to be priced at less than 400,000 yuan, carries a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine and an electric motor

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Chinese workers assemble PSA Peugeot Citroen’s Kadjar cars on Dongfeng Automobile’s assembly line in Wuhan on 10 October 2016. Photo: Handout

Published: 7:16pm, 11 Mar 2021Updated: 9:04am, 12 Mar 2021

Dongfeng Motor, the Chinese partner of Japan’s Nissan Motor and PSA Peugeot Citroen of France, has entered the world’s largest market for so-called new energy vehicles (NEVs), launching a new brand called Voyah to take on Tesla.

The first all-electric Voyah model will be launched in July, fitted with a 60 kilowatt-hour battery with a range of up to 500 kilometres (310 miles) on a single charge, the Chinese carmaker said during a webinar. The basic model, expected to be priced at less than 400,000 yuan (US#61,680), carries a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine and an electric motor.

The Voyah, with a maximum range 16 per cent shorter than Tesla’s bestselling Model Y, is Dongfeng’s first attempt to wrest the ballooning market for NEVs – expected to make up three of every five cars on China’s roads by 2030, UBS said – from the runaway market leader Tesla, which is churning out Model 3 and Model Y electric cars in Shanghai. Voyah will come with an extended range that can go as far as 860km on a single charge, the carmaker said.

“Range anxiety is still one bottleneck facing electric cars,” said Ji Xiaodong, communications director of Voyah. “We are doing our best to find our solution to the problem.”

The cars will be assembled at Dongfeng-Renault’s joint venture plant in the Hubei provincial capital of Wuhan, with the annual capacity to produce 150,000 vehicles. The brand’s name in Chinese is “lantu,” which means “blueprint from the mountains”, a nod to Dongfeng’s base in the Wudang mountains of Hubei, close to a region dubbed “China’s Motown” for the automotive industry’s outsize contribution to the local economy.

Dongfeng has much catching up to do. Tesla began selling its Shanghai-made Model Y following a surprise launch on New Year’s Day, offering the sports-utility vehicle (SUV) at 339,000 yuan, cutting the sticker price by 30 per cent from a presale quotation in June last year.