In the news today, yet another Chinese automotive brand has landed on New Zealand’s shores. However, the brand in question is no greenhorn. Instead, they actually have origins that date back to the late 1960s and a presence in more than 100 countries around the globe! Allow me to introduce Dongfeng who would not just be debuting their brand on the day but also their first car for our market, the Box.
As storied as Dongfeng’s history might be, they are a largely unknown entity in our market so some scene setting was needed first and Simon Rutherford, CEO at Armstrong’s Distributors Limited was tasked with doing exactly that. Describing Dongfeng as a “multi-energy, multi-brand, multi-segment” manufacturer, Simon clearly stated that the brand is here to challenge. It’s not just going to be a short term affair either with Dongfeng poised to enter our market with the intention of staying for “today, tomorrow and beyond.” And the brand’s secret sauce? Well, it’s a promise of “extreme value” said Simon.
Ellerslie Racecourse’s Tote on Ascot played host to the Dongfeng Motors Launch
The Brand and its Values
With the scene set, Simon subbed off for Arek Zywot, GM of Dongfeng New Zealand. Local intentions clear, Arek was here to give us a history lesson on the brand. Roughly translating as the “East Wind”, a symbol of renewal and growth in Chinese culture, often depicted as a “driver of change.” Symbolism continues as the logo depicts a pair of Swallows circling inside a wheel, painting a scene of “harmony in partnership” as well as “precision and reliability.” Summing up the brand’s ethos is a slogan of “Drive Your Dreams”, the aim of which is to deliver cars which incorporate quality, intelligence and harmony, allowing customers to access features/technology which they would normally not be able to do so.
The brand’s values are ‘quality, intelligence and harmony.’
The meaning behind Dongfeng’s values goes further with quality not just referring to the cars themselves but also in the decision making of the business as well as its people/talent. Intelligence is broken down into both an attitude of innovating with the intention to challenge the market. Lastly, there’s the idea of harmony which looks at the automobile in its surroundings with a view to having an “ecosphere for everyone.”
The Numbers
Great, that’s the values, symbolism, slogans etc all covered off but Dongfeng is a business at the end of the day so what do the numbers look like? Arek continued on to answer the above question. Since their establishment in 1969, upwards of 60 million vehicles have rolled out of the brand’s factories, that figure was only 10 million in 2009, meaning that 50 million vehicles have been manufactured in the last six years alone, wow! In fact, just last year, they manufactured around 1.4 million vehicles with 246,000 of those destined for international markets.
Dongfeng is one of China’s big four state owned automotive manufacturers and is ranked 240 on Fortune’s global list as well! Internationally, it has partners like Honda, Nissan and Peugeot to name a few. At home, it is China’s foremost commercial vehicle brand, holding upwards of 21,000 patents and having 14,000 R & D engineers employed.
There’s more too with the brand currently working on a Level 4 Autonomous Robotaxi, a series of driverless trucks and buses as well!
Dongfeng’s planned range under wraps, shortly before its unveiling
The Plan for New Zealand
With that said, it was time for Simon to return to the podium as the next presentation was based on Dongfeng’s positioning in the New Zealand market. The brand have only just landed but are already thinking big, aiming to be the first to offer an EV that is on price parity with that of its corresponding ICE powered competitors. Also, there’s no base models! In a market where only 1.8% of car owners have adopted EVs, Dongfeng have their sights set on that remaining 98%.
The brand will be sold in the urban centres, namely Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch with the latter being the first to already have a fully fledged Dongfeng showroom open! To make the ownership experience even easier, Heartland Bank have come onboard to provide financial services for leasing, personal loans and guaranteed future value agreements as well! A six year/200,000km vehicle warranty, 8 year/200,000 km battery warranty and six year roadside assistance package have also been agreed for the peace of mind for those new owners.
Kicking things off for their local onslaught though is the Dongfeng Box, a compact EV hatchback for the city centres.
Box is the first model to be available locally
Dongfeng Box
The aptly named Box is an EV take on the light hatchback. Its power source is a 43.89kWhr battery that offers 317km of WLTP range. A single motor sends 70kW/95hp and 160Nm to the front wheels, meaning that the 0-50kph sprint can be notched in just 4.6s, it’s equally quick to charge too with the 30-80% top up being achievable in just 30 minutes.
It’s not all about the powertrain though as a suite of niceties come loaded into the standard car. For one, it has a diamond quilted leatherette interior with a “French bag” style belt and buckle on the dashboard, the drivers seat includes electronic adjustability, heating, ventilation and a memory function, it will also recline backwards up to 180 degrees! A choice of three interior colours exist as well as six exterior options that can be coupled with a dual tone roof.
Three interior combinations offer quilted leatherette materials with ‘French bag’ style detailing
It’s not light on the list of safety technology either with the Box featuring ‘Lane Departure Warning’, ‘Lane Keep Assist’, ‘Adaptive Cruise Control’, ‘Traffic Jam Assist’, ‘Forward Collision Warning’ and more. A suite of four cameras, one smart camera and 12 radar sensors are also available to help whilst parking/maneuvering.
All of the above comes at just $29,990 plus on road costs and options, a special introductory price compared to the $32,990 figure that it would have been otherwise. The white paint option is standard but other colours are around $500 and dual tone is $750, not bad at all!
We also got to take the Box on a short drive and get some first impressions as part of the day. It’s got plenty of kit for the money but as you can expect, it’s not perfect, the quality of the plastics is not incredibly reassuring, the steering is worryingly light and it feels quite slow even with your foot flat to the floor. But, it is a brand new fully electric hatchback for $29,990 which makes it worth considering, even for those in the used car market shopping around at a similar price range.
Worth noting is that the pink and white colour combination pictured below is an acquired taste. Although, if you are a man that wishes to have women ogle at you then it does deliver on that brief.
Box offers one standard colour, five optional colours and optional two tone as well
The 007 and Vigo
Box is the sole offering and entry level model for now but come Q1 2026, it will be joined by two more vehicles, the Vigo and 007. Vigo is a family focused EV SUV/crossover with distinguishing features like a split tailgate and an external Bluetooth speaker for taking your tunes camping too!
007 is set to be the brand’s flagship with a long range and performance model selected for our market, the latter of which is set to have 400kW of power on tap, twice as much as the long-range variant!
Dongfeng’s current and soon to be launched models for our market
A New Zealand specific website is already live and the Christchurch dealership has enough stock on hand for buyers to drive away the same afternoon following a purchase. More to come!
Lastly, it’s pronounced ‘Dong-fong’ by the way.
Thanks for reading! For more Dongfeng news and reviews, visit Tarmac Life.
Launch event courtesy of Armstrong’s Distributors Limited. Words and photos by Matthew D’Souza.