Dongfeng-Nissan Introduces New Passenger Car Marque: Qichen (Venucia)
September 8th, 2010 | Posted in Dongfeng | New Cars | Nissan | Venucia
The joint venture of Dongfeng and Nissan unveiled the car brand "Qi Chen" today in Beijing. Designed to supplement the Nissan lineup, Qichen cars will be low-priced economic models sold only in China.
"Qichen," whose designated English name is "Venucia", means morning star. The five-star logo evokes China’s national flag (called "Five Star Red Flag), although the company avoided a direct reference when explaining the design to the media. Instead, the ancient classic Shi Ji (Records of the Grand Historian) by Sima Qian was quoted–"The heaven has five stars, the earth five elements."
As the company, formed in 2003, also celebrates the 2 millionth car rolling off its production line today, it takes the launch of Qichen as an event marking the beginning of a new era.
The public has to wait until the end of this year to get a glimpse of first Qichen cars, a concept and possibly a test model, and until the first half of 2012 to see one at dealerships.
In developing a second or third brand specifically for the local market, Dongfeng-Nissan seems following a trend. GAC Honda unveiled "Everus" in 2007. SAIC-GM-Wuling introduced "Baojun" two months ago. And Dongfeng Honda, another Honda venture in China, will have dual brands soon.
