In the event you rolled your eyes after studying that one other Chinese language auto firm is launching electrical automobiles (EVs) in South Africa, the place main gamers are already circling like packs of wolves on the lookout for their subsequent meal, you then wouldn’t be improper. However, you is perhaps lacking the actual story.
On Monday, Dongfeng, the smallest of China’s “Huge 4” automobile corporations—together with SAIC, FAW, and Changan—launched 4 new EV manufacturers in South Africa, concentrating on the middle-class. Its most cost-effective model, the E1330, will probably be priced at R459,000 ($27,000), however nonetheless costlier than BYD’s Dolphin Surf, which launched in September, and Dayun S5, priced at R399,000 ($22,000).
Dongfeng? Doesn’t ring a bell: A significant query on anybody’s thoughts is why a sure “Dongfeng” is making an attempt to compete with EV giants like BYD. However the actuality is, regardless of BYD’s enormous international market share—which it amassed by undercutting opponents—Dongfeng was one of many first automobile manufacturers on the earth to wager on EVs. The corporate began constructing an EV bus meeting in 2010, and by 2014, it launched Venucia e30, its first all-electric passenger car.
So, why was Dongfeng late to the personal EV automobile enterprise? Dongfeng spent its early EV years concentrating on buses, logistics automobiles like e-trucks, and different industrial fleets, reflecting China’s push to impress public transport and state-backed companies first. That focus helped the corporate construct technical depth and scale, nevertheless it additionally delayed its transfer into personal passenger automobiles till it felt assured it might compete on price and know-how.
State of play: Dongfeng has already began increasing past China. The corporate entered Mexico in December 2024 with a lineup that features battery-powered electrical automobiles (BEVs) and hybrids. With its new South Africa rollout, Dongfeng seems to be doubling down on worldwide enlargement, hoping to catch demand early in markets the place EV adoption is nascent.
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