Nissan Ariya "Hits the Brakes": Sales Drop 36% Month-on-Month. Can Dongfeng Nissan Break the Curse of Joint-Venture New Energy Vehicles?

Image source: Du Ge

According to the sales data for September 2025 released by Nissan China, the Dongfeng Nissan N7, the first hit model in the new energy field for Dongfeng Nissan, experienced a decline in sales. In September, the sales volume of the Dongfeng Nissan N7 was 6,410 units, a month-on-month decrease of 36.83% compared to 10,148 units in the previous month.

Data shows that in April, the Dongfeng Nissan N7 was officially launched with a price range of 119,900 - 149,900 yuan. Within 18 days of its launch, the number of firm orders exceeded 10,000, making it the joint-venture pure electric vehicle model in the industry to reach this milestone the fastest. In May, the official delivery of this model began; in August, it became the first joint-venture pure electric vehicle model to have monthly deliveries exceed 10,000 units.

The obvious decline in sales of the hit model poses a question: How will Dongfeng Nissan respond to the challenges and break through in the new energy market?

Decline in Sales of Hit Model

In April, after the release of the Dongfeng Nissan N7, Shang Shunshi, the deputy general manager of the Product Planning Headquarters of Dongfeng Nissan, said that the pricing process was very difficult. It was quite challenging to convince the two shareholder parties if the joint venture company was not making a profit. Eventually, they managed to persuade the two parties because the N7 was extremely important.

Shang Shunshi stated that the N7 is the first vehicle for Dongfeng Nissan's transformation. They aimed to regain customers lost over the past few years with a very sincere price. Regarding whether the pricing of the Nissan N7 results in losses, currently, most new energy vehicle manufacturers are not making a profit, and he couldn't disclose the exact amount of loss.

Meanwhile, the management of Dongfeng Nissan said that their sales target is that only when the N7 becomes a hit and breaks through the market can the sales volume increase. They define a hit model as one with monthly sales exceeding 10,000 units.

It's worth mentioning that the Dongfeng Nissan N7 is also the first model led by the Chinese team. Data shows that except for the basic positioning and styling, the Dongfeng Nissan N7 was led and developed by the local Chinese team. The Momenta one-stage end-to-end flywheel large model intelligent driving system and the iFlytek voice interaction system it is equipped with were almost entirely decided and implemented by the local team during the implementation and adaptation process, making the experience more in line with the habits of Chinese consumers.

However, after the sales volume of the Dongfeng Nissan N7 exceeded 10,000 units for the first time in August, it dropped back to just over 6,000 units in September.

The month-on-month decline in sales also reflects some obstacles in the development process of Dongfeng Nissan. Previously, with the continuous decline in sales, the production capacity of Dongfeng Nissan was continuously reduced, and the production capacity of the N7 failed to keep up with the "explosive" sales volume.

In June 2024, the factory of Dongfeng Nissan in Changzhou, Jiangsu, was shut down, with an annual production capacity of approximately 120,000 vehicles. In July 2025, Voyah Automobile acquired the Wuhan Yunfeng Factory under Dongfeng Group Co., Ltd., which was previously the production base for Dongfeng Nissan's pure electric models such as the Ariya, with an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles. However, in June 2024, this factory started producing Voyah's Zhiyin models.

Two months later, Dongfeng Group Co., Ltd. announced that it had signed an investment agreement with Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. (the main company of Dongfeng Nissan), Xiangyang Holdings, and Xianggao Investment to jointly establish a joint venture company through capital contributions. The physical assets contributed by Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. include tangible assets (various mold assets for the production of specific models, several buildings, structures, machinery, and equipment located within the factory area of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd.) and intangible assets (several project systems and processes for specific models under its banner, that is, the comprehensive management framework established for efficient vehicle development).

Data shows that the tangible assets contributed by Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. mainly come from the Dongfeng Nissan Xiangyang Factory, which was previously responsible for producing flagship models such as the Teana, Murano, Terra, and Infiniti Q50L, QX60, with a maximum annual production capacity of over 200,000 vehicles.

The reduction in production capacity has, to some extent, affected the delivery time of the Dongfeng Nissan N7. On the Chezhiwang complaint platform, there are multiple complaints about the long delivery time and the failure to deliver on time. In August, Nissan China stated that the delivery cycle of the N7 had been significantly shortened. For customers who placed orders currently, the delivery cycle had been shortened to 2 - 4 weeks; customers in some areas could pick up their cars in just 1 - 2 weeks.

It's currently unclear whether the sales decline in September is an accidental phenomenon, but for Dongfeng Nissan, it's not a positive sign.

Two New Models to Be Launched

As Nissan's major joint-venture enterprise in China, Dongfeng Nissan has recently carried out reforms in the new energy field.

In the second half of 2024, Dongfeng Nissan introduced Huawei's IPMS integrated product marketing operation mechanism, deeply integrating product R & D and market promotion to meet user needs. At the same time, Dongfeng Nissan transformed its new energy sales channels and became a joint-venture brand that manages ordering, delivery, and service separately. Currently, Dongfeng Nissan has deployed over 100 retail delivery centers and over 500 retail centers across the country and plans to quickly expand to 1,000 retail and delivery centers.

Judging from the overall sales volume of Dongfeng Nissan, it still needs to speed up its transformation.

In the first nine months of 2025, the sales volume of Dongfeng Nissan (including Dongfeng Infiniti and Venucia) was 418,600 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 9.4%. According to the electric vehicle sales ranking on Chezhuzhijia, the Nissan N7 is the electric vehicle with the highest sales volume for Dongfeng Nissan, with 32,901 units sold in the first nine months of 2025; followed by the Venucia VX6 with 8,574 units sold; and the Venucia Big V DD - i with 2,192 units sold.

In other words, the electric vehicle sales of Dongfeng Nissan mainly rely on the Nissan N7, while its mainstay is still fuel - powered vehicles. In the first nine months of 2025, 223,700 units of the Sylphy were sold, 64,300 units of the Qashqai, and 44,100 units of the Teana.

At the Nissan China 40th Anniversary Brand Night held in October, Dongfeng Nissan launched its first plug - in hybrid sedan, the N6, and the world's first fuel - powered vehicle with a Hongmeng cockpit, the new Teana, and announced that it will launch 10 new energy models in China in the next three years, covering three major technology routes: plug - in hybrid, pure electric, and extended - range.

It is reported that the N6 is technologically homologous to the N7 and is equipped with a plug - in hybrid system consisting of a 1.5L engine and a motor. The industry estimates its price to be between 120,000 - 150,000 yuan; the Teana will become the world's first fuel - powered vehicle with a Hongmeng cockpit. Both models are expected to be launched in a few weeks.

Whether the Nissan N6 can further increase Dongfeng Nissan's market share in the new energy sedan field and whether the Teana with Huawei's support can enhance its product competitiveness are also worth looking forward to.

The delivery issues faced by the Nissan N7 before also serve as a wake - up call for the production capacity management of subsequent products. Zhou Feng, the deputy general manager of Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company, once said in an interview with the media that "the insufficient production capacity is due to both operational and experience issues." "In the past two decades, Dongfeng Nissan's vehicles were used to a curve - type growth. Now, the thinking of creating a hit product is different. The marketing department has clearly stated the goal of creating a hit product, but the manufacturing department's rhythm and preparatory work have not kept up in a timely manner."

As the N6 and the Hongmeng Teana are about to be launched, whether Dongfeng Nissan can regain speed in the new energy track depends not only on the market acceptance of the products but also on its system response speed and user operation ability. Facing the increasingly competitive new energy market, Dongfeng Nissan can only gain a foothold in China's new energy market by continuously focusing on user needs, accelerating localization innovation, and strengthening the supply chain and delivery capabilities.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Visibility in the Auto Circle", author: Du Ge, published by 36Kr with authorization.