Americans Can't Have These Affordable Chinese EVs. But They're Coming To Canada

China's Dongfeng Motor showed off a gaggle of cars in Montreal, with plans to sell its first two starting in 2027.

Photo by: Dongfeng

Kevin Williams

By: Kevin Williams

Jul 16, at 10:54am ET

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Dongfeng Motor showed off a series of cars in Montreal, some affordable, some higher-end.
The brand is currently going through the homologation process with its models, with plans to offer its first two models in 2027.
The Dongfeng Nammi Box and Vigo will be the first two on sale. Dongfeng says they have a target price of under $35,000 CAD. ($25,000 USD)

It seems like if it's day that ends in “y,” then there’s another Chinese car brand announcing its intention to go to Canada. We’ve already seen concrete plans from BYD, Chery, and Geely to bring over cheap (and not so cheap) EVs to Canada’s market. Remember, a new trade agreement has reduced Canada’s 100% tariff on Chinese-made cars to 6.1% for up to 49,000 cars for 2027. The Canadian government's goal is to give drivers more choices for lower-cost EVs.

Dongfeng Nammi Box

Photo by: Dongfeng

Another brand has announced that it’s on its way: Dongfeng. This week, the state-owned car manufacturer held a meet-and-greet of sorts in Montreal, allowing Canadian car journalists and industry analysts to get their hands on a smattering of products that could make their way to the country. Dongfeng plans to offer its first couple of models in Canada starting in 2027, it told various outlets this week.

From what I've seen in videos and reporting from Canada, Dongfeng showed up with a fairly wide variety of its products from its brands, including the upmarket Voyah brand. In all, the manufacturer showed off seven models: the Voyah Dream (van), Voyah Free (mid-sized premium EREV crossover), Dongfeng Eπ 007 (mid-sized coupe-sedan available in EV or EREV), Dongfeng Eπ 008 (mid-sized SUV, EREV only), M Hero 817 (body-on-frame PHEV SUV), the Nammi Box EV hatchback, and the Vigo EV crossover.

Photo by: Dongfeng

The Nammi Box and Vigo will be the first Dongfeng models to be sold in Canada, North World Industry, the automaker's Canadian distributor, told several Canadian outlets. They're in the process of Canadian homologation, according to CBC. Dongfeng even has a working Canadian website and a call for Canadian distributors.

The two cars aren’t super huge; the Box occupies the subcompact hatchback class, while the Vigo is a subcompact crossover about the same size as the Nissan Kicks. Both are front-motor, front-wheel-drive designs. The smaller Nammi Box makes do with a 94 horsepower motor and a battery that is up to 42.3 kWh in size, good for 196 miles of range (WLTP). The Vigo crossover gets more power and battery; its motor has a sizable 181 horsepower, fed by a battery that's up to 51.87 kWh. The WLTP range is 211 miles.

The real story, however, is price. China pricing for both those models doesn’t really have much of a bearing on anything outside of China, but the Nammi Box and Vigo both clock in well under $13,000. For Canada, these two cars are aiming to slip under $35,000 CAD, which is right at the $25,000 mark for us down here in the U.S., North World Industry told media.

As someone who has been covering Chinese cars for a while, I can’t help but have a bit of envy watching our neighbors to the north. They’re getting so many cool, cheap EVs that I’ve seen in China, and seemingly all at once. That’s a great amount of choice for the consumer.

What do you think?

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By the same token, I am curious to see just how Canada’s budding cheap Chinese EV market plays out. There are a lot of companies racing through the door, but the number of seats is limited. BYD, Zeekr, Chery, and now Dongfeng are racing to the market. Also, Tesla’s already taking up some of these slots with its Shanghai-made cars returning to Canada. It will be interesting to see which models and brands end up winners, and which ones don't. Whatever the case, Canadian drivers win with newfound access to cheap EVs.

Contact the author: Kevin.williams@insideevs.com.