Flying under the radar: Dongfeng’s quiet presence in South Africa

Dongfeng has been relatively quiet since launching in South Africa at the end of 2024. Picture: Charl Bosch Having launched its local operations at the end of 2024, Chinese automaker, Dongfeng, has faded into almost obscurity since then. One of China’s oldest automotive brands, with a timeline stretching back to 1969, it has remained quiet since revealing the all-electric Box hatch two years ago.

Known for its joint ventures with the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, Honda, Peugeot, Citroën and previously, Kia, it has since launched only one other product, the oddly named eπ 007, without any prior notice at the Kyalami Festival of Motoring last year. Its operations seemingly restricted to a single dealer, located in the Wonderboom South area of Pretoria, the officialDongfeng Pretoria websitecurrently lists three models; the Box, eπ 007 and 06 SUV. Distributed by a firm called E Auto Motor, and pronounced “dongfong” instead of “dongfeng“, information from vehicle information specialists,duoporta.com, lists its products as the following: Known as the Nammi 01 in China and Europe, the Box has measurements of 4 030 mm in overall length, a wheelbase of 2 660 mm, height of 1 570 mm and width of 1 810 mm.

Based on a platform called Quantum Architecture S3, the Box has a claimed 945-litres of boot space with the 60/40 split rear seat folded down. Up front, the Box comes in 330 and 430 guises, which refers to its claimed ranges. While power and torque figures are pegged at 70kW/160Nm for both, the former has a 31.4-kWh battery pack and the latter, a larger 42.3-kWh unit.

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Trim levels are E1 and E2 for the 330 and E2 and E3 for the 430. Details related to individual trim level specifications are unknown.

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