Dongfeng-Nissan unveils its JV brand "Qichen"

BEIJING –Dongfeng-Nissan Passenger Vehicle Co., the PV division of Dongfeng-Motor Ltd. (DFL), unveiled a new brand “Venucia” (“Qichen” in Chinese meaning “morning star”) here in Beijing, making it the third JV in China to launch its own JV brand.

“The intellectual property of the new brand “Venucia” will belong to the Sino-Japanese joint venture,” said Xu Ping, chaiman and president of Dongfeng Motor Group.

With the first model to hit the local market in 2012, the future vehicles under the new brand will be developed and designed in China specifically for the local Chinese market, according to the company press release.

This is latest move by automotive joint ventures in China after GAC-Honda, a joint venture between Guangzhou Auto and Honda Motor, introduced its first JV brand “Linian” in 2007 and SAIC-GM-Wuling unveiled its new “Baojun” brand in July 2010.

Dongfeng-Nissan launched its new brand at a press conference to celebrate its two-millionth vehicle production following seven years of operations.

“In the future, we aim to sell more than 1 million vehicles annually and the new brand will play an important role by offering practical models with world-class quality,” said Fumiaki Matsumoto, managing director of Dongfeng-Nissan Passenger Vehicle Co. at the conference.

In the first eight months, Dongfeng-Nissan has sold about 434,000 vehicles, up 35.5 percent over the same period last year, according to a statistic report from Chinese Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). The Wuhan-based joint venture plans to sell 600,000 vehicles in China for 2010, up about 16 percent year-on-year.