Are Dutch car buyers waiting for another electric SUV from China? And if so, what can the Voyah Free cost? In search of the answers to these questions, potential buyers, journalists and experts set out for the first time with the car and its direct competitors.
Roland Tameling
What can a new model of an unknown car brand cost on the Dutch market? And what does such a car add to all the models that you can already choose from in the various showrooms? In other words: how much chance of success does the Voyah Free have in our country? Normally, the answers to such questions follow from thorough market research and the analyzes of people who have studied for it. It is mainly a matter of numbers and data, which in principle does not involve the consumer.
But Riva EV Mobility, a large Dutch car dealer group that may want to bring this new Chinese electric SUV to our country, is taking a different approach this time. To get a better picture of the opportunities that the Voyah has in the Netherlands, the company is organizing a so-called pricing clinic, where various interested parties get to know a new car model for the first time. They include experts from car leasing companies and (car) journalists, but also potential customers who are already driving competitors of the Free.
They take it in turns to get behind the wheel of the Voyah for a test drive and directly compare it with other electric SUVs that come close to the Chinese newcomer in terms of size, price or performance. During a kind of ‘test relay’, the Free is compared with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 (available from around 48,000 euros), the Tesla Model Y, the Audi e-Tron, the Mercedes-Benz EQC and the BMW iX, which are at least should cost 85,000 euros.
Voyah: from Wuhan to the Netherlands
Of course, Riva EV Mobility has already made a market analysis based on figures and data models, says general manager of the Riva Group Mark van der Kallen. ,,But it is always good to sound our feelings with the target group and other people who know about it. We do not doubt the added value of this brand in addition to the twelve other car brands that we carry, but you are still curious what the first reactions are. We will take the feedback we receive today into account in our considerations and in our further discussions with the Chinese parent company.”
Voyah is a car brand of the Dongfeng Motor Corporation from the now well-known Chinese city of Wuhan. In its home market, the company is the country’s second-largest vehicle manufacturer, selling more than four million vehicles annually. Dongfeng achieves these numbers partly thanks to collaborations with well-known car brands such as Honda, Peugeot and Citroën, but since a few years it also carries its own brands. With Voyah, the group is now taking its first steps towards Europe: the 4.95 meter long and 1.95 meter wide Free is already for sale in Norway and it may soon also be in Dutch showrooms.
In any case, it is not the appearance of the car, says Thijs Pitlo. As responsible for the electric car branch of the Riva Group, he is the organizer of this price clinic, and therefore not entirely objective. “But even if you look critically, I think it is good that the design of the car is not too pronounced, as you see with some other cars from China.” The design of the Voyah comes from the well-known Italian car design studio Giugiaro and while the Free doesn’t have much of its own character, its looks will indeed offend few people. That in contrast to the rather outspoken BMW iX or another Chinese newcomer like the Hongqi e-HS9.
Voyah Free: ‘no Chinese junk’
Pitlo personally drove this copy of the Voyah Free from Norway to The Hague. “Then you get to know a car like that right away and I am really impressed. It is super quiet, drives very luxuriously with the standard air suspension and the electric driving range in practice – with a good drive – easily exceeded 400 kilometers.” That is a good prospect, although the Free does have a decent battery pack of 100 kilowatt hours in its belly for that. Thanks to two electric motors, it delivers a total capacity of no less than 680 horsepower (500 kilowatts) and a thousand Newton meters of tractive force. According to Voyah’s figures, those who want to can accelerate from a standstill to 100 kilometers per hour in 4.4 seconds.
The experts present get less time behind the wheel of the Free, but a lot of positive sounds can be heard during the various driver changes. “The interior just looks neat, the finish is neat and I was surprised by the way in which the dashboard rises as soon as you start the car”, is the assessment of the Amsterdam car leasing expert Jusuf Tepic. That is indeed a remarkable gimmick: depending on the selected driving position, the upper part of the dashboard – including no less than three screens – rises over the full width. Furthermore, the Free looks high-quality inside, although the interior is mainly a fairly tastefully decorated whole that is made up of many ‘purchased’ parts that come from the shelves of suppliers. It’s neat, but not very distinctive.
Victor Kuipers is an expert on the lease market and praises the suspension comfort of the Voyah. “It has something American about it, I really liked driving it. But I still wonder if the business driver is waiting for this. I find that a difficult question to answer like this: it is an impressive car, but there is already quite a lot of competition that offers about exactly the same. An attractive price then becomes important to gain the acceptance of the Dutch car buyer.” Entrepreneur and BMW driver Henny Schaap (57) from Katwijk thinks the Voyah is ‘not Chinese rubbish’. “It is a beautifully finished car, I immediately noticed that. But I wouldn’t immediately trade in my BMW for it, that also depends on the relationship with the dealer and the like.”
‘Very difficult match’
That nuance also comes from journalist Bart Kuipers, an editor associated with the trade journal Automotive:,,The pricing of a model is one thing, but for customers it is also about which company is behind a car brand. I expect that the Riva Group can sell quite a few of these cars, with all its sales power, but then they must also have the network ‘at the back’ in order. Without the right salespeople and a well-organized organization when it comes to matters such as service, maintenance and warranty, it will be a very difficult competition.”
Thijs Pitlo parries that comment from the Riva Group with the clout that ‘his’ dealer company already has. “We will have to build that around Voyah, but we already have many service points, showrooms, rental locations, damage companies and our own leasing company. So that will be fine.” General director Mark van der Kallen estimates the chance of ‘about ninety percent’ that the Voyah Free will actually be marketed in the Netherlands. “I really see room for this model, especially after the positive reactions we are getting here today.”
’70 or 80,000 is really too much’
But that still leaves the key question: what should the Voyah Free cost according to these experts? If it is up to Van der Kallen himself, the SUV ‘could cost around 75,000 euros’. “But I’m afraid the Chinese see it differently. I feel they want to put it a little higher in the market.” Lease expert Victor Kuipers advises against this. “Actually, you should say from 59,000, because I think 70,000 or 80,000 euros is really too much for this car. The competition is too strong for that at the moment, I suspect. In any case, I advise them not to exceed 65,000 euros as a starting price.”
Fellow expert Jusuf Tepic estimates the chances of the Voyah a little better. “I am thinking about 70 to 75,000 euros, then you are slightly below the prices of brands such as BMW, Audi and Mercedes, while you do offer more. If people see what that car looks like up close, how it’s put together and how it drives, I think it’s good enough to convince those buyers. BMW adept Henny Schaap does not leave his iX in front of it, but agrees with Tepic. In my opinion, in VAT, it could cost around 80,000 euros, because it looks very slick in terms of implementation. And I think it’s all there is to it. You can’t say that with a BMW, because the white one here costs 104,000 euros!” It is not yet known what the Voyah Free will ultimately cost in the Netherlands, but the statements made during this one price clinic probably give a good idea of what to expect.
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