Product type Automobile marque Country China Markets China | Owner Dongfeng Motor Company Introduced September 2010 | |
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Venucia (启辰, Qi Chen in Chinese) is an automobile marque owned by Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle, itself a subsidiary of Dongfeng Motor Company. It was launched in September 2010.
Contents
History
In September 2010 Dongfeng Nissan unveiled a new marque, Venucia, to be used to sell vehicles developed and designed by the company in China specifically for the domestic market.
In November 2011 Dongfeng Nissan announced that the first car to be sold under the Venucia marque would be the D50 mid-class sedan, and that it would go on sale in the first half of 2012.
Dongfeng Nissan unveiled a production version of the Venucia e30 electric car at the 2012 Auto Guangzhou motor show. An earlier version, the Venucia E-Concept was unveiled at the 2012 Beijing Auto Show. Initially, the electric car was scheduled for production in China by 2015, and it has the same bodywork, dimensions, electric-drive specifications and shares other features of the Nissan Leaf. Dongfeng Nissan plans to start a pilot projects in 15 Chinese cities to promote Venucia e30 jointly with local governments. A total of 216 units were delivered through December 2013. These units are being marketed as Venucia Morning Wind and they are badged Leafs since local production has not begun yet. In April 2014 Dongfeng Nissan announced that retail sales of the Venucia e30 are scheduled to begin in September 2014.
Dongfeng Nissan launched its second production model, the R50 five-door mid-size hatchback car, in September 2012. The R50 was designed in China and is aimed at first-time buyers.
The Venucia Viwa concept car was unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show in April 2013, previewing a new production car based on the platform of the Nissan March. The R30 was subsequently launched in 2014.
In its first two years of sales (2012-2014), Nissan claimed 200,000 Venucia cars had been sold.
In January 2015, the T70 was launched, a compact SUV based on the Nissan Qashqai.
Marketing
At the 2013 Auto Guangzhou, Venucia introduced a brand slogan, "vibrant life, within reach" (Chinese: 多彩生活•触手可及; pinyin: Duōcǎi shēnghuó•chùshǒu kě jí). There also is an English-language slogan, "enjoy more". In 2014, the brand agreed to sponsor the Guangzhou Hengda, with the club promoting Venucia's model line-up.
Products
The following Venucia vehicles are currently available in China:
Dongfeng Nissan plans to launch two new mid-sized sedans and an SUV under the Venucia brand by 2015.