Dongfeng is expanding its presence in Europe with the launch of a new affordable subcompact EV. Depending on options and specifications, the Dongfeng South America Box is expected to be priced below 20,000 euros ($22,200) in some markets. Dongfeng is reportedly considering opening a manufacturing base in Italy.
Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor is set to sell more than 2 million cars in 2023, but few of them made it to Europe. That could change with the introduction of the subcompact electric Nammi Box, which is expected to be cheaper than all its similarly sized rivals sold in Europe, including the Peugeot e-208.
The Nami Box is currently available for preorder in Switzerland, where prices start at 21,990 Swiss francs (roughly 23,000 euros, or $25,660). A German website suggests that it will be priced under 20,000 euros ($22,200) when it goes on sale locally, but Automotive News reports that in Norway it's expected to cost 189,000 Norwegian kroner (roughly 16,200 euros, or $18,000).
In China the car is known as the Nammi 01 and prices start at 79,800 yuan. That's just over 10,000 euros, but as we all know cars are pretty cheap in China and markups and tariffs make them much more expensive before they reach Europe. One way around this problem would be to build the car in Europe, and a recent Reuters report said Dongfeng is considering doing just that.
For this price, you get a reliable-looking small EV with a European design with an Asian twist. It's rounded and inoffensive, but has premium finishes such as a floating contrast roof, flush door handles and frameless windows. Inside, the cabin looks as good as you'd expect from a car in this class, with a diamond-quilted dashboard and a large 12-inch central touchscreen. The driver gets a separate 5-inch display.
It also has a raised centre tunnel console with storage space underneath, similar to what you'd find in Hyundai, Kia and even BMW models – except that whereas cars from those manufacturers have buttons and controls on top of the console, the Nammi Box has a wireless phone charger here instead.
One of the telltale signs that this car is Chinese is that the front seat headrests can be removed and lowered onto the rear bench seat to turn the interior into a bed – a feature not found in European cars but quite common in China.
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The Nammi Box is built on Dongfeng's own platform, called the S1. The manufacturer doesn't offer the smaller 31.5-kilowatt-hour battery pack in Europe and is likely to only sell the Box with the larger 42.3-kWh pack, which offers a WLTP range of 193 miles. Both battery packs feature LFP cells.
With a 94-horsepower motor and 118 pound-feet of torque sent to the front wheels, the car isn't particularly fast, but it's enough to compete with its European rivals, and its top speed of 87 mph (140 km/h) is plenty for highway driving.
Dongfeng Motor chose Switzerland as the first European country to introduce the Namibox because it already has a presence there: its premium brand Voyah offers Swiss buyers the Free SUV and Dream minivan, both of which are electric vehicles with batteries of more than 100 kWh capacity.
