Dongfeng's first own brand car goes on sale
Dongfeng Motor Corp., a leading domestic commercial vehicle manufacturer, last week started selling its first own brand car, a three-box compact sedan.
Dongfeng Aelus S30
Powered by a 1.6-liter gasoline engine from Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen, the car sells for 75,800-99,800 yuan ($11,098-14,612), according to information Dongfeng released during the car's launch last week in Beijing.
The car is fitted with a five-speed manual transmission from Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen or the Step-gate four-speed automatic transmission of Japanese supplier Aisin Seiki Co.
Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen is Dongfeng's joint venture with PSA Peugeot Citroen SA.
Known as the Aelus S30, the car is 4,502mm long, 1,740mm wide and 1,465mm high. It is built at Dongfeng's passenger vehicle plant in the central China city of Wuhan.
Dongfeng plans to launch the hatchback version of the Aelus S30 before the end of this year, says Liu Zhonghou, vice president in charge of production at Dongfeng's passenger vehicle plant.
He adds that his company has already started developing its own engine which will be mounted on the Aelus S30 in two years.
Li Chunfrong, who is vice president in charge of sales and marketing at Dongfeng's passenger vehicle plant, says the car will target the domestic market for the time being.
Many overseas car dealers have applied to Dongfeng to sell the Aelus S30 outside China, although Dongfeng has yet to draft a detailed plan on marketing the vehicle overseas, Li adds.
