Beijing (ZXZC)- Chinese legacy automaker Dongfeng Motor Group announced a projected 75% year-on-year decline in net profit attributable to shareholders for the first half of 2023, as revealed in a recent disclosure on August 14. 

Photo credit: VOYAH

Dongfeng Motor Group attributes the performance fluctuations during this reporting period to several key factors. The company has ramped up efforts to accelerate its transition to new energy vehicle products, intensifying investments in high-end new energy vehicle brand development, platforms, products, key components, and core technologies. 

Additionally, declining market shares in the non-luxury passenger vehicle segment within its foreign joint ventures, coupled with a gradual recovery in the commercial vehicle market, contributed to decreased profits in the joint venture passenger vehicle and commercial vehicle businesses. 

Non-operational gains and losses were influenced by foreign exchange fluctuations and the income from equity investments, resulting in lower-than-expected returns compared to the previous year.

This year stands as a pivotal point for Dongfeng Motor, marked by the implementation of its three-year "transformation and upgrading" initiative. With a focus on the new energy vehicle market, Dongfeng Motor has painstakingly built a comprehensive new energy passenger vehicle brand landscape covering luxury, high-end, mainstream, and compact segments. 

Beyond the already established brands, such as the "Mengshi" (Warrior) and "VOYAH," the new electric strategic brand, "Dongfeng eπ," was unveiled during the Auto Shanghai 2023, along with the debut of its first concept car, the eπ2023. 

Additionally, in the latter part of this year, Dongfeng Motor is set to launch China's first dedicated compact pure electric car brand, further enhancing and optimizing its presence in the compact electric vehicle segment.

Over the next three years, Dongfeng Motor plans to inject 50 billion yuan into bolstering its new energy vehicle endeavors, expediting the establishment of a materials and technology research institute and a software engineering research institute.