(Yicai) April 10 -- Voyah, the high-end electric vehicle brand under Chinese state-owned automaker Dongfeng Motor Group, rolled its 100,000th vehicle off the production line at its plant in the Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone yesterday.

“The 100,000th vehicle not only marks the initial formation of a scale effect for the Voyah brand but also the beginning of the company’s pursuit of an annual sales target of 100,000 vehicles,” Chief Executive Officer Lu Fang told Yicai.

Voyah sold more than 50,000 units last year, up 160 percent from the year before, Lu said. In the first three months of this year, its sales soared 188 percent to 16,345 units from a year earlier. Voyah has three EV models on the market: a sedan, a multi-purpose vehicle, and a sport utility vehicle.

Although competition is fierce and sales prices are facing pressure, there is no overcapacity in the Chinese new energy vehicle market because there is still room for growth in terms of penetration, said Shao Mingfeng, general manager at Voyah Automobile Sales and Service.

“There is still much room for improvement in the NEV penetration rate in third, fourth, and fifth-tier cities,” Shao noted.

“For example, the NEV penetration rate in China’s southwestern automotive market, which is characterized by smaller-tier cities, is below 20 percent,” Shao explained. “This, plus the fact that NEVs are more suitable for small cities than big ones, leaves a lot of room for improvement.”

Shao believes that when the overall penetration rate rises to 35 percent, the market may need to go through a short adjustment period. Afterward, once the penetration rate reaches 50 percent, new demand will be released, and more production capacity will be required.

As a representative NEV maker in Hubei province, Voyah is strengthening cooperation with local part suppliers to help them increase their research and development, project management, and project sales capabilities, Lu said.

By collaborating on new product development with local part suppliers and using their high-value components, Voyah is helping the local automotive industry to advance to the age of new energy and intelligent networking, Lu noted, adding that the localization rate of Voyah’s suppliers reached 41 percent.

The WHDZ, where Voyah's plant is located, boasts 13 car plants of nine automakers and more than 1,200 auto part suppliers, with an annual output of one million vehicles. Its NEV output is expected to reach 600,000 to one million units by 2025, with the related penetration rate in the area exceeding 50 percent, according to a government plan.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione