China’s major automaker, Dongfeng Motor Corporation DFMC started 2022 with growing sales performance in January, especially in its wholly-owned passenger vehicle sector, the company announced on February 11th.

AEOLUS AX7; photo credit: Dongfeng AEOLUS

In the first month of 2022, DFMC sold 341,700 vehicles, increasing 6.1% year on year. The passenger vehicle sector of the group sold 291,400 vehicles, indicating a 13.8% jump from last year.

In January, with 74,100 vehicles sold, DFMC’s wholly-owned passenger vehicle brands managed an 82% surge compared to a year ago.

To be specific, Dongfeng Fengshen Aeolus) scored an impressive 189.1% year-on-year growth in January, with 18,600 vehicles sold. Meanwhile, the group’s another wholly-owned brand, Dongfeng Fengxing, sold a total of 17,000 vehicles in the month, jumping 48.3% from a year ago.

On the other hand, the sales volume of DFMC’s joint venture brands in January amounted to 217,300 vehicles, edging up 0.9% from 2021.

With 13,000 vehicles sold, Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën celebrated an 85% rise in its January sales versus the previous year.

In the meantime, Dongfeng Motor and Nissan Motor’s passenger vehicle joint venture, Dongfeng Motor Co. & Ltd. including Nissan, Venucia, and Infiniti brands saw a 126.3% soar in its Venucia brand sales compared to a year ago, with 14,000 vehicles sold.

In January, Dongfeng Nissan sold 112,100 vehicles. Dongfeng Infiniti, which was just included as a brand under DFL, sold 1,100 vehicles in January, still more than fivefold the volume in the same period of last year.  

Moreover, Dongfeng Motor’s other jointly owned Japanese brand, Dongfeng Honda, saw a 7.3% increase in its January sales year on year, with 77,400 vehicles sold.

In the first month of 2022, DFMC’s commercial vehicle sector sold 50,300 vehicles in total.

Specifically, the commercial vehicle joint venture between Dongfeng and Nissan, Dongfeng Automobile Co., Ltd. DFAC) reported 17,200 units of light commercial trucks sold in January, edging up 3.5% from a year ago. Additionally, the joint venture sold 13,200 commercial vehicles in the same month.