The Dongfeng Nissan team celebrated the milestone of producing the 100,000th N-series NEV. Credit: Dongfeng Nissan
- This comes about 14 months after the launch of the N7 electric sedan, the first model in Dongfeng Nissan’s N series.
- The milestone underscores how joint venture automakers are staging a comeback in China’s EV market with locally led development and aggressive pricing.
Dongfeng Nissan, Nissan’s joint venture in China, announced on Friday that the 100,000th unit of its N-series new energy vehicles (NEVs) has rolled off the production line.
The milestone comes just about 14 months after the launch of the N7 all-electric sedan, the first model in the series, underscoring joint venture automakers’ comeback in China’s EV market.
Over the past several years, as China’s electrification drive accelerated, local brands rose rapidly while joint venture brands were once marginalized.
In March 2025, the month before the N7 was launched, mainstream joint venture brands had an NEV penetration rate of just 6% in retail sales, far below the 72% of local brands, according to data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
By May 2026, however, the NEV retail penetration rate for mainstream joint venture brands had climbed to 14.5 percent.
The N7 was launched at the end of April 2025, with a starting price range of 119,900 yuan ($17,700) to 149,900 yuan, comparable to Xpeng’s (NYSE: XPEV) best-selling Mona M03.
The unexpectedly low pricing was seen as one of the major counterattacks by joint venture automakers in the Chinese market. The N7’s retail sales reached 10,148 units in August 2025, though they fell to 1,447 units last month, according to data compiled by CnEVPost.
Dongfeng Nissan N-series NEV Monthly Retail Sales 2025-2026
Month
2025
2026
January
3,990
February
2,448
March
4,329
April
665
5,480
May
3,034
8,027
June
6,189
July
6,455
August
10,148
September
6,410
October
6,540
November
4,581
December
8,747
Dongfeng Nissan N-series NEV monthly retail sales
2025
2026
The N7 is the first Dongfeng Nissan model designed and developed by a Chinese team, built on the company’s Tianyan architecture.
The model’s driver-assistance system was jointly developed by Dongfeng Nissan and Chinese local startup Momenta, while its cockpit incorporates AI large language models including DeepSeek-R1.
After the N7, Dongfeng Nissan has continued to accelerate the roll-out of N-series products.
In December 2025, the company launched the N6 plug-in hybrid sedan with a limited-time starting price of 91,900 yuan, competing with best-selling models including the BYD (HKEX: 1211) Qin L DM-i.
In April, Dongfeng Nissan launched the NX8, the company’s first model to offer extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) options.
The mid to large-size SUV has an official guide price starting at 159,900 yuan, with a starting price of 149,900 yuan after limited-time incentives. Its orders reached 8,423 units within 30 minutes of launch.
The rapid volume growth of the N-series has also drawn Dongfeng Nissan into increasingly fierce market competition.
In April, Li Auto (NASDAQ: LI) founder, chairman and CEO Li Xiang accused Dongfeng Nissan of organizing accounts to maliciously smear his company’s core products during the NX8’s launch, and China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology reportedly summoned both parties for talks.
The rare public dispute highlights the intensifying competitive tensions among automakers in the world’s largest auto market as growth slows.
Canada lifted its ban on China-made EVs in January, currently allowing up to 49,000 China-produced vehicles into the country’s market annually.
($1 = 6.7753 yuan)
