The story
Background and founding
During the Korean War, there was a need for trucks to be used on the battlefield. The Ministry of Machinery planned a factory to build an imitation of the GAZ-51 truck. This was originally planned to be at Qingshan District, Wuhan, and later revised to Wuchang District, also in Wuhan. In 1955, these sites were disregarded as being too vulnerable to air raids, and Chengdu was chosen as the proposed site. The reasoning is also mentioned in a dictate of Chairman Mao Zedong; as part of his "Third Front" strategy However, due to the poor state of the economy, the plans were shelved.
In 1957, Hunan was picked as the site for the proposed truck factory, as the Yangtze basin area of the province didn't have any heavy industry yet. In 1960 preparations started at the site in Shiyan, but were abruptly halted. As the Chinese economy improved, and as a result of the Sino-Soviet split, production of military trucks came into the spotlight again, and construction of the Second Automobile Works (第二汽车制造厂) was included in the third five-year plan in 1965.
The company was officially founded in 1969 at a village of 100 residents, that would later grow to become Shiyan city. This remote location was chosen as its topography consisted of over 40 shallow valleys, allowing factories to be concealed, while also being on the route of the Xiangyang–Chongqing railway. Due to its remote countryside location with limited equipment, the company only managed to produce 200 automobiles by 1972.
Mass production (1975–2000)
In 1975, the first EQ240 2.5-ton Dongfeng truck was produced, followed by the EQ140 5-ton model in 1978, which was also the first civilian truck by the company. At its peak the EQ140 held a domestic market share of 66%. In 1986, Dongfeng surpassed 100,000 vehicles produced annually. In 1987, a new 3-ton model was launched.
Traditionally manufacturing commercial vehicles, by 2001 these made up about 73% of Dongfeng's production. By 2012, that figure had reversed, and 73% of manufactures were passenger cars. However, the percentage of consumer offerings was likely lower as passenger car counts may include microvans, tiny commercial vehicles that are popular in China.
Between 1978 and 1985 alongside the reform and opening ups instituted by Deng Xiaoping, Dongfeng was transformed from a manufacturer of two heavy-duty trucks with fragmented operations and ownership into a single, centrally managed enterprise. This process included placing all Dongfeng operations—from part manufacture to vehicle assembly—under the control of a single business entity and the merger of six truck production bases as well as a number of other companies previously controlled by provincial governments. Post-1985, further reforms took place that allowed Dongfeng greater autonomy; the company was removed from the direct administrative control of the central government.
By the mid-1980s, its assets had tripled from those initially given to it by the state in 1981, and management was desirous of even greater production capacity. But in 1995, the company was experiencing financial difficulties as was the case with many Chinese automobile manufacturers at this time. The situation was still dire in 1998 precipitating a 1999 restructuring of the company.
In 1992, the company changed its name to Dongfeng, or "East Wind" in Chinese.
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This state owned enterprise has come into conflict with authority at both the national and provincial levels. Alongside First Automotive Works it saw the successful dismantling of the Automobile Corporation, a central government entity presumably tasked with preventing non-competitive business practices through dictating output volumes and curtailing purchasing as well as exasperation at the right of the State to make managerial appointments.
The Chinese partner in many Sino-foreign joint venture companies, Dongfeng initiated most of these cooperative efforts with foreign firms in the early 2000s. But its first was established in 1992 with French PSA Group. Named Dongfeng Citroën Automobile Company (DCAC), it was the forerunner to the current Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën Automobile Limited (DPCA).
2000–2010
By 2003, Dongfeng had established joint ventures with Kia Motors (Dongfeng Yueda Kia, 2002), Honda (Dongfeng Honda, 2003), and Nissan (Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., 2003). As of 2011, it had more Sino-foreign joint ventures than any other Chinese automaker.
In 2004, intermediate holding company of the group, Dongfeng Motor Group, became a listed company in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange; Dongfeng Yueda Kia remained in the unlisted portion of the group.
Dongfeng announced in November 2006 that they intend to sell their vehicles in Japan.
In 2009, it sold 1.9 million vehicles ranking second among domestic automakers and third overall.
2010–present
In 2010, the company sold 2.72 million units, making it the second most-productive Chinese vehicle-maker. It reported 1.72 million sales of passenger vehicles that same year.
2011 production figures put the company in second place, in terms of production volume, in its home market; Dongfeng produced 3.06 million vehicles that year.
It was the second-largest Chinese automaker in 2012 by production volume, and Dongfeng manufactured over 2.76 million whole vehicles that year with passenger cars comprising 73% of manufacture. The number of cars counted as passenger vehicles may conflate consumer offerings and tiny commercial trucks and vans known as microvans, however.
Dongfeng established its first research and development facility outside of China in October 2012 when it acquired a 70 percent stake in the Swedish engineering company T Engineering AB.
In December 2013, Dongfeng and the French automaker Renault agreed to form a 50:50 joint venture, Dongfeng Renault Automotive Co Ltd., to manufacture Renault brand passenger cars for the Chinese market. The two partners agreed to invest an initial 7.76 billion yuan (US$1.27 billion) in the venture, which became Dongfeng's sixth joint venture with a foreign automaker—the most of any Chinese automaker.
In February 2014, loss making PSA Peugeot Citroën, a joint venture partner of Dongfeng since 1992, was recapitalized, with Dongfeng Motor Group taking a 14% stake.
In 2017, it was announced that Dongfeng Motor Corporation would be re-incorporated as a limited company, renaming to 东风汽车集团有限公司, which only differ from its subsidiary Dongfeng Motor Group for the word 股份) (share).
In 2020, Dongfeng dissolved its ventures Dongfeng Renault, Dongfeng Yulon and withdrawn from Dongfeng Yueda Kia in 2021.
On June 12, 2020, the mass-produced version of the Dongfeng Sharing-VAN 1.0 rolled off the production line at its technical center, demonstrating Dongfeng's 5G-enabled autonomous vehicle with level 4 applications.
On 17 July 2020, Dongfeng Motor Corporation introduced Voyah and its brand logo at the Big House Contemporary Art Center in Wuhan. The Voyah brand was launched in September 2020 during the 2020 Beijing Auto Show alongside the i-Free and i-Land concepts.
On 18 December 2020, Voyah's launched its first model, the Free mid-size crossover SUV, which is available with an extended range or pure electric powertrain.
In 2023, construction of the Dongfeng Motor Museum started.
In July 2025, Dongfeng Motor and Nissan announced the establishment of a joint venture at the ratio of 60% and 40%, to export vehicles and components manufactured by Dongfeng Nissan.
In November 2025, Nissan Import & Export (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. was established. This company is the first joint venture vehicle import and export entity set up by a foreign-funded automotive company in China. The Dongfeng Nissan N7 and Frontier Pro PHEV will be the first models developed locally in China for export to overseas markets.
Collaboration with Huawei
In March 2024, Yu Chendong, the CEO of Huawei Intelligent Automotive Solution, revealed that M-Hero and Voyah would apply the "Huawei Inside" mode for several of their new models.
In November 2024, Dongfeng Nissan and Huawei signed an agreement of cooperation that they would develop the vehicle based on Huawei's Harmony Cockpit under the Huawei Inside (HI) mode. It is the first sino-foreign joint venture to collaborate with Huawei.
In September 2025, Dongfeng Motor Group announced that Dongfeng Motor Group (DFM), Dongfeng Motor Limited (DFL, a joint venture with Nissan), Xiangyang Holdings, and Xianggao Investment (state-owned companies of Xiangyang city) signed an investment agreement to establish a joint venture. The registered capital of the joint venture is RMB 8.47 billion. Dongfeng Motor Group (DFM). and Dongfeng Motor Limited (DFL) contributed RMB 3.55 billion and RMB 920 million in the form of intangible asset usage rights and physical assets, accounting for approximately 41.9% and 10.9% of the registered capital respectively. Xiangyang Holdings and Xianggao Investment contributed RMB 2.88 billion and RMB 1.12 billion in cash, representing 34% and 13.2% of the registered capital respectively.
The new company will collaborate with Huawei, sharing the M-Hero brand to develop lightweight offroad SUVs. It will be integrated into Huawei's IPD (Integrated Product Development) and IPMS (Integrated Product Marketing and Sales) systems. Dongfeng and Huawei will engage in comprehensive management collaboration across areas such as development, marketing and sales, a new management model leads by Yinwang under the new HI Plus Mode.
In November 2025, Dongfeng Motor and Huawei officially launched the Yijing brand (Chinese: 奕境). Its Western name is Epicland. Its first model, the Epicland X9, which was unveiled on 20 April 2026 by showcasing the side profile and dimensions. The Epicland X9 is expected to debut in April 23 at the Huawei Qiankun Ecosystem Technology Conference.
Collaboration with Stellantis
On May 15, 2026, Dongfeng Motor and Stellantis signed a strategic cooperation agreement with a total investment exceeding 8 billion RMB, planning to produce new energy vehicles for the Peugeot and Jeep brands at the Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën (DPCA) Wuhan plant starting in 2027 with two off-road vehicle models under the Jeep brand will be first introduced targeting at the global market. Under this investment, Stellantis will contribute 130 million euros. Five other local state-owned capital entities, including Changjiang Industry Investment Group, Wuhan Financial Holdings Group, and Wuhan Economic Development Industrial Investment Group, accounting for 87% of total investment, have also participated in the funding,. Exporting through the channels of Stellantis' brands could alleviate pressure from trade barriers and discriminatory tariff policies targeting Chinese brands in the European and North American markets.
On May 20, 2026, Stellantis and Dongfeng announce the plan to establish a Europe-based and Stellantis-led 51/49 joint venture for the sales and distribution of Dongfeng's Voyah-branded vehicles in designated markets in Europe. The joint venture also plans to localize Dongfeng new energy vehicles models in the Rennes plant in France.
From Wikipedia’s article on Dongfeng Motor Corporation, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4