Voyah is the latest Chinese car brand to make its way to Norway. With that, the queue of car manufacturers from the Middle Kingdom is growing who want to get into the European car market.
Soland-owned Electric Way will import the car. Voyah is a brand owned by DongFeng, which is the fourth largest automobile manufacturer in China in terms of sales volume. They have sold more than 1.1 million cars in their home country in 2020. DongFeng was founded in 1969, thus it is not a newcomer.
Two models of cars under the Voyah brand will be presented in Norway soon. After that, they will release at least one new model every year. Their first model, called the Voyah Free, is scheduled to go on sale in June, with deliveries in November.
The importer describes the product as a luxury car with a large battery.
Thin in specifications
The importer’s press release says nothing about the vehicle’s specifications, but since it’s for sale in China, it appears to be an SUV with a length of 4.9 meters and a wheelbase of 2.96 meters.
In China, it is available with rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, with a power of 255 kW / 520 Nm and 510 kW / 1040 Nm respectively. If we’re going to bet, the all-wheel drive option is the most suitable for Norway.
The battery is 88 kWh, and its range is 475 km, which is correct enough according to the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) measurement method. If we allow ourselves to speculate, that probably means a range of just over 300 km.
We know nothing about the prices, other than that they cost the equivalent of 510,000 kroner in the home country. According to CNEVpost More than 10,000 copies of Voyah Free have been sold in China. The car was first delivered to customers in August 2021.
The other car to be launched was not mentioned in the press release, but we do know that the Voyah Dreamer was launched in China last year. This is the MPV, or “person stand,” with a grill that most people would envy.
It can be delivered with seven seats with a length of 5.3 meters and a wheelbase of 3.2 meters. Since it was launched in September last year and few technical details are known, it is likely that it will be far from being registered with Norwegian streamers.
voya special stores
The Voyah will not be sold through Suland Group car dealers, but will be shown through its “showrooms”, which are compatible with Nio, Polestar and Tesla.
In the press release, the importer wrote that the vehicle must be ordered online. The first showroom will open at Klingenberggata in Oslo during the summer.
How the service network will be is currently unclear. According to the press release, the importer is working on agreements with other players.
The plan is to expand into more European markets after introducing the brand in Norway.
Make life more turbid for old western brands
Tesla has become a formidable competitor to the traditional auto industry, but they’re not alone in their push. Chinese actors are also coming in and making life more miserable for them.
Many players in the auto industry previously described this development as a repeat of what happened when Japanese car brands took over the West in the 1970s and stole market shares on a massive scale.
It’s no coincidence that Western automakers don’t seem to have big reservations about talking about Tesla. Conversely, it can be helpful to mention them at the same time as the actor who appears as the technology leader.
Not much is talked about about Chinese car brands. The reasons for this may be many, but we can assume that they have little interest in helping raise market awareness of new car brands coming from the East.
Just like when Japan took over Europe
BYD Director and Maxus Importer RSA, Frank Dunvold, He previously told TU that there is no doubt that what is happening now can be compared to what happened when Japanese brands came to Europe..
When Japanese cars came to the West, they were given such nicknames as “Japanese cars” and “rice cookers”. They were famous for being cheap and technically backward products compared to American and European auto manufacturers.
Dunvold believes we see some of the same situations repeated, as he says the term “Kenbell” has many of the same negative overtones.
However, there is a rather big difference between Japanese cars of the 70s and Chinese cars today: they are not far from the technology of Western car manufacturers. It can be said that they, on the contrary, are advancing in many areas.
If you compare Chinese, for example New ES8 with German Audi E-tron It certainly isn’t clear that Audi has any significant technological leadership. It might be the other way around.
Sandy Munro at consultancy Munro & Associates has on several occasions also told TU that he believes Chinese auto manufacturers in many areas are ahead of Western companies. The owner of Volvo describes my Geely as One of the most forward-looking players in the industry.
These Chinese brands are on the way
According to our statistics, we count 10 Chinese car brands and a total of 18 new models are on the way or for sale in Norway. The list will only go on in the coming years.
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