Voyah, the premium electric-vehicle brand backed by Chinese state-owned automaker Dongfeng, said its sales surged 119% year on year in the first half of 2023, as the company pushes ahead with new models and overseas expansion. According to Chinese automotive outlet Pacific Automotive, Voyah delivered 3,007 vehicles in June, up 150% from a year earlier, marking the fourth consecutive month of deliveries above 3,000 units.
The brand, launched in July 2020, has weathered global supply-chain disruptions and rising raw-material costs to complete a three-year plan covering three vehicle categories: SUVs, MPVs, and sedans. Voyah says it is the first Chinese state-owned automaker to adopt a direct-sales model and the fastest Chinese premium NEV brand to go global, having entered Norway in 2022 and Israel in early 2023.
New models and technology push
Voyah's first sedan, the Voyah Passion (Zhuiguang) EV, went on sale in April, positioned as a “Chinese luxury electric sedan.” The company also highlighted its new Voyah FREE SUV, equipped with Baidu's Apollo intelligent driving system, which it claims is the first mass-produced system to use L4-level autonomous driving technology scaled down to L2.9. The system includes highway pilot assist, automatic ramp entry and exit, and advanced parking functions.
In the second half of 2023, Voyah plans to launch a PHEV (plug-in hybrid) version of the Passion, which it calls the world's first luxury executive new-energy sedan. The PHEV variant measures 5,088 mm long with a 3,000 mm wheelbase, and features a 1.5T hybrid engine with dual-motor all-wheel drive, offering a combined range of over 1,000 km (about 621 miles).
Voyah also said it will launch a developer platform later this year, allowing users and third-party developers to customize up to 280 vehicle functions across powertrain, cockpit, and driver-assistance domains, based on its SOA (service-oriented architecture) electronic architecture.
Overseas expansion and funding
Voyah has been expanding internationally, with plans to enter the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark in 2023, followed by Germany and France. The brand will start selling its Voyah Dreamer MPV in Europe in September 2023. In Israel, Voyah began deliveries in March after launching pre-sales in January.
Financially, Voyah raised nearly 5 billion yuan (about $704 million) in its Series A round in November 2022, which it claims is the largest initial funding round in China's NEV industry. In June 2023, it secured 15 billion yuan (about $2.1 billion) in credit lines from six major Chinese banks, including ICBC and Bank of China. The company said it will proceed with a Series B round in the second half of 2023.
Voyah's CEO Lu Fang, in a media briefing, said the company will continue to balance in-house development with partnerships, particularly in autonomous driving, where he noted that technology roadmaps remain uncertain. He also expressed skepticism about achieving L3 or higher autonomy in the near term, citing regulatory and liability challenges.
