(Yicai) Aug. 14 -- Shares of Dongfeng Motor fell after the state-owned maker of brands such as Warrior and Voyah said its net profit is expected to have declined by three-quarters in the first half from a year ago due to sluggish performance and heavy investments in electrification.

Dongfeng's Shanghai-listed equity [SHA: 600006] edged down by 2 percent to CNY5.76 (US 80 cents) as of 2.33 p.m. while its Hong Kong-traded shares [HKG: 0489] plunged by 6.9 percent to HKD3.10 (US 40 cents).

One of the main factors behind the profit slump is accelerated transformation as the firm is increasing its investment in building new energy vehicle brands, platforms, commodities, and core technology resources, the Wuhan-based company that sells brands such as Infiniti and Venucia said in a statement today.

From January to June, gains declined as the group's market share of joint venture non-luxury passenger car brands fell and the commercial vehicle market recovered slowly, it said. Dongfeng relies heavily on a number of joint venture brands with big carmakers including Nissan, Honda, Citroen, and Kia. Moreover, the Chinese firm's returns from foreign exchange and equity investments rose slower this year.

The carmaker aims to become more self-sufficient, widen its new energy vehicle portfolio, and rely less on JV brands in the future. In late 2022, Dongfeng revealed its strategy to have half of its sales come from self-developed autonomous passenger cars by 2025. Moreover, 70 percent of all passenger cars made in 2025 should be electric. In the next three years, Dongfeng intends to invest CNY50 billion (USD6.9 billion) in developing NEVs.

The electrification strategy is starting to show as this year, the company revealed the Dongfeng Eπ brand, and in the second half, the plan is to launch models in the Dongfeng Nano Box series, a pioneering marque that focuses on small electric cars, according to the manufacturer.

Editor: Emmi Laine