Dongfeng Fengshen S30 sedan plans to be a whole new player. It measures the same size as the Peugeot 307, it will be powered by a 1.6 16valve engine (105bhp) from the PSA warehouse.. The car is actually built off the Citroen ZX platform, and measures (LxWxH)4502/1740/1465mm. Dongfeng acquired the Citroen ZX platform from Citroen, and employed the Italian design firm, DSG, to design the car for them.
The Dongfeng Fengshen S30 will compete against a whole army of locally produced small sedans such as GM's Buick Excelle, Hyundai's Elantra and VW's Jetta in the Chinese market. Dongfeng, which operates local joint ventures with PSA, Honda and Nissan, spent 100 million yuan ($14.7 mln) in developing own-brand passenger cars. Additional models, including a coupe and a hatchback, will also come out soon under the Dongfeng brand.
The Fengshen S30 sedan is priced in between $11,000 to $14,600 & available in five different trim levels. According to theautochannel.com, the S30 will slowly take on no less than 50 different medium-sized vehicles on the Chinese growing market. A study by the National Passenger Car Information Exchange Association says the 1.6l and below passenger market in China has grown by around 50 percent in the first half of the year and, as we all know by now, the prospects are even better.
Dongfeng plans to build 120,000 units of the S30 each year, even if its current capacity allows for only 80,000 units. In a new plant, still under construction, Dongfeng will produce, starting 2010 and some 240,000 2.0l engines per year. As for sales, the manufacturer intends to sell about 600,000 to 1 million units worldwide.
Dongfeng has some 57 stores in China through which to sell the S30, with a total number of sales outlets reaching 180. The S30 is aimed mostly, as the company says, at the German and Japanese cars in the local market.
