Nissan, Honda partner Dongfeng launches ‘national’ mini EV Nammi to compete with GM bestseller Hongguang in China

Nammi brand will hone Dongfeng’s image as a carmaker of the masses, executive says
Dongfeng unveiled the Nammi 001, the brand’s first model, on Wednesday, but has not yet revealed its price

Electric & new energy vehicles

Daniel Renin Shanghai

Published: 6:00pm, 24 Aug 2023

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State-owned carmaker Dongfeng Motor, the Chinese partner of Japanese marques Nissan Motor and Honda Motor, has launched a “national” mini electric-vehicle (EV) brand aimed at accelerating the use of battery-powered cars in the world’s largest automobile market.

Nammi, the new brand, will cater to and be affordable for all mainland Chinese consumers, Wuhan-based Dongfeng, which is also China’s third-largest carmaker, said in a statement on Thursday.

“The unveiling of the Nammi brand will hone Dongfeng’s image as a carmaker of the masses,” Chen Hao, Dongfeng’s vice-president, said in the statement. “The company is determined in its resolve to engineer Dongfeng’s electrification drive.”

Nammi will aim to compete with, and essentially seek to replicate the success of the Hongguang Mini EV, an electric car developed by SAIC-GM-Wuling, American carmaker General Motors’ three-way partnership with SAIC Motor, China’s largest carmaker, and Wuling Motors.

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The Hongguang, a compact four-seater EV, is a bestselling model that effectively promoted the use of battery-powered cars around China, including in its underdeveloped rural areas, according to Cao Hua, a partner at Shanghai-based private equity firm Unity Asset Management, which invests in automotive supply-chain firms.

Launched in mid-2020, the Hongguang redrew the landscape of China’s EV sector, unseating Tesla’s Model 3 as the bestselling EV nationwide just a few weeks after sales started in July that year. For instance, in August 2020, 15,000 Hongguang EVs were delivered, outgunning the Model 3 of which 11,811 were sold, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

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The Hongguang costs 28,800 yuan (US$3,955) to 38,800 yuan, just a fraction of the price tags sported by the likes of Tesla’s Model 3s and Model Ys, which cost at least 230,000 yuan, and Li Auto’s L8 sport-utility vehicle, which starts at 320,000 yuan. The mini EV has a driving range of 170km on a single charge.

Dongfeng unveiled the Nammi 001, the brand’s first model, in Chengdu on Wednesday, but has not yet revealed the prices for the new model. The compact four-seater, which can go 300 to 400km on a single charge, will hit the market in the fourth quarter of this year.

“Cheap models provide a catalyst for the wider use of EVs,” said Unity’s Cao. “A fast-expanding charging network in China also enables carmakers to design more affordable EVs to target people in underdeveloped regions.”

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CPCA data showed 148,855 Hongguang Mini EVs were delivered in the first five months of 2023, down 27 per cent year on year. The association has stopped publishing monthly sales data for individual models since June.

Zhao Zhen, a sales director with Shanghai-based dealer Wan Zhuo Auto, said the sales decline mainly resulted from consumers’ wait-and-see approach at that time, as they expected price cuts on EVs amid a price war among carmakers.

Currently, more than three out of every 10 new vehicles taking to the streets in China are either pure electric or plug-in hybrid cars, the CPCA said. EV sales in China are expected to rise by 55 per cent this year to 8.8 million units, according to a UBS forecast made in April.

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