Markdown Text in English

Written by | Zhang Ruichen

Edited by | Pan Tan

Voyah Motors, which has been troubled by poor deliveries recently, announced its price reduction subsidy program. The subsidy program will be targeting the 7-seater version of the Voyah Dreamer, which can now be enjoyed for a limited time government subsidy of RMB 40,000. However, even with such a high subsidy amount, Voyah Motors will find it challenging to bring about a qualitative change in sales.

As of the end of February 2023, Voyah Motors had only delivered 1,107 vehicles. Although this represents a 50% increase compared to the corresponding period last year, it also means a nearly 40% decrease in performance from the 1,548 vehicles sold in January. As a newcomer to new energy vehicle manufacturing, Voyah Motors now lags far behind its competitor such as Xpeng, Nio, and Leapmotor.

According to the data, in 2022, China produced and sold 7.06 million and 6.89 million new energy vehicles, respectively, with a YoY increase of 96.9% and 93.4%, and the total sales of new energy vehicles in China has reached 25.6% of the total passenger vehicle market share. It is undeniable that the market for new energy vehicles in China is robust.

Specifically, Voyah Motors had an annual sales volume of only 19,409 vehicles in 2022, with an average monthly sales volume of just over 1,600 vehicles. This result was not satisfactory. It is worth noting that Voyah Motors’ original target for 2022 was to sell 46,000 vehicles and have an annual output of 48,000 vehicles. Then, in July 2022, Voyah Motors adjusted its annual sales target to 31,000 vehicles with a goal to reach 37,000 vehicles, however, they only completed 63% of their goal in 2022.

In such a situation, it is evident that Voyah Motors is lagging behind.

Although Voyah Motors’ delivery performance is currently below expectations, Voyah Motors CEO Lu Fang said, “In 2023, the potential for growth in China’s new energy vehicle market continues to improve, and we have confidence in the market growth of new energy vehicles.”

Therefore, the main reasons that have led to the failure of Voyah Motors to achieve expected sales volume could be the following:## It’s Not Just About Piling Up Materials to Be High-end

As a subsidiary of Dongfeng Motor Group, Voyah Automobile is certainly not lacking in resources and funding if they want to make an impact in the high-end market. Thus, they have put a lot of effort into product development for their first car model, the Voyah FREE. Not only does it feature a globally innovative one-piece retractable screen, but also standard air suspension, as well as various high-end features such as welcome modes, child care modes, and more. However, has Voyah considered if these so-called high-end features are what users actually need? Compared to these features, it seems that functions that actually have practical use to consumers, such as the HUD heads-up display or the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chipset, are more likely to appeal to consumers and drive sales.

What’s interesting is that earlier, JiKr free-of-charge upgraded its users to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chipset, which won high praise in the industry and also helped JiKr gain popularity and sales. However, when Voyah also followed suit this year, offering users an upgrade to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chipset for a symbolic 0.1 yuan, the response was mediocre and confusing.

So the main reason why Voyah FREE sales did not pick up in the initial stage was because of the pursuit of high-end features. After all, at this price point in today’s thriving new energy market, what should be there needs to be there, and products that only serve a ceremonial purpose are not welcomed by consumers. Voyah’s product development is unable to support their dreams of breaking into the high-end market.

Limited MPV Market

Setting aside Voyah’s product development and focusing on its second car model as an MPV vehicle, it is also unable to support the overall sales performance at Voyah Automobile. After all, MPV is still a smaller segment in the automotive market.

Voyah Dreamer is currently the only MPV model in the Chinese automotive market that adopts a dual-power layout, with two power options available – pure electric and plug-in hybrid. It was released on May 7, 2022, with a price ranging from 369,900 to 6,899,000 yuan. Up to now, the best monthly sales performance for Voyah Dreamer was 1591 units in August 2022, but in the previous month, sales did not even cross a thousand. However, such sales performance is still acceptable for an MPV model, but the focus for Voyah Automobile should be on high-volume car models.

CEO of Voyah Automotive, Lu Fang, stated that he hopes the third model, Chasing Light, could become the flagship product leading the sales. “Voyah’s delivery capacity and orders steadily grow in February, especially for Chasing Light. Next, with the launch of Chasing Light, Voyah’s entire product system sales will further increase,” he said.

This kind of rhetoric is not the first time to hear in Voyah. They always boast of their order quantity, but it often turns out to be different when the final sales figures released. I’m afraid Chasing Light will be the same when it starts to be delivered.

Going overseas is at best an expedient measure

In recent years, the development of China’s new energy industry has indeed led the world, which has also led to many car companies wanting to promote their products globally. This has resulted in many stories about domestic new energy vehicles going overseas, and Voyah is also one of them.

In February of this year, Voyah announced that it will officially enter the Israeli market, which is another step for Voyah Automotive to reach overseas markets after setting in Norway. It also stated that it plans to enter other overseas markets such as Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark in 2023. So, why is Voyah, which has not yet fully developed in the Chinese market, so hurriedly deploying overseas markets?

To put it nicely, Voyah is telling the story of Chinese high-end new energy vehicle brands to the world. To put it harshly, it is just an excuse for their poor performance in the Chinese new energy vehicle market. Like all new energy vehicle companies being students, and sales being test papers, when most students are working hard to do the basic questions, Voyah is struggling with the last few extra questions. Even if they get them all correct, they cannot earn more points than they did with doing more basics. Plus, there is still a possibility of getting it wrong.

For the fiercely competitive domestic new energy vehicle market, pursuing overseas markets appropriately may supplement the sales of car companies, like NIO’s layout in the European market. However, the increase from going overseas is limited. To achieve a substantial increase in sales, companies must do well in the domestic market in the end.### Closing Words

To describe the current situation of Voyah Automobile as “sluggish” is an understatement. Delivery falling short of expectations is no longer simply a unilateral issue, as inaccurate product positioning, pricing inconsistent with performance, overlooking overseas markets, marketing difficulties, leadership problems, and more have undoubtedly hindered the development of Voyah Automobile. The future depends on whether Voyah Automobile can turn the tide of declining sales with the upcoming launch of the Chasing Light.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.