DONGFENG GROUP's "cage changing for birds" strategy is accelerating. During the National Day holiday, Voyah Auto submitted its listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The parent company DONGFENG GROUP's privatization and delisting, combined with subsidiary Voyah Auto's introduction listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, exemplifies a "parent retreat, subsidiary advance" approach that reflects Dongfeng's capital strategy and the future direction of the automotive industry.

As Dongfeng's most promising new energy vehicle brand, Voyah hopes to leverage the favorable conditions of its Hong Kong listing to secure greater development space amid intense market competition.

**Voyah Reveals Its True Face**

During the National Day holiday, Voyah Auto intensively submitted its Hong Kong Stock Exchange application, significantly advancing its listing process and allowing the market to see the company's true profile.

In China's highly competitive new energy vehicle market, Voyah is not among the strongest players nor does it rank high in sales volume. However, backed by the state-owned enterprise Dongfeng Group, it has maintained a relatively steady development pace and represents one of the group's most promising brands.

This time, Dongfeng Group's "cage changing for birds" strategy to accelerate Voyah's independent listing aims to further strengthen the new energy vehicle segment and unlock Voyah's greater potential.

Compared to many new car-making forces, Voyah entered the new energy vehicle industry relatively late. However, leveraging Dongfeng's over 50 years of automotive manufacturing technology and superior resources, it quickly caught up.

Voyah focuses on the premium new energy segment, with products mainly covering the 200,000-500,000 yuan price range. Since the company's establishment in June 2021, it has achieved "three years, three categories, four years, four models," successively launching multiple models including Voyah FREE, Dream Home, Zhuiguang, and Zhiyin, covering SUVs, MPVs, and sedans.

The company delivered its first Voyah FREE in August 2021, reached its 100,000th vehicle in April 2024, and achieved cumulative production of 200,000 units by April 2025, becoming the first central state-owned enterprise premium new energy vehicle brand to reach 200,000 units.

From 2022 to 2024, Voyah's sales volumes were 19,400, 50,300, and 80,100 units respectively. During this period, the compound annual growth rate was 103.2%, making it the third-fastest growing Chinese premium new energy vehicle brand.

In the first nine months of this year, Voyah has delivered approximately 97,000 units, up 85% year-over-year, with monthly sales exceeding 10,000 units for seven consecutive months.

In September, Voyah concentrated on new product launches, with the updated Dream Home and Zhuiguang L making their debut, and the new flagship SUV Taishan officially released.

Among all Voyah models, the MPV Dream Home is the absolute sales champion. In 2023 and 2024, this model sold 26,500 and 46,700 units respectively, contributing over half of Voyah's total sales. In the first seven months of this year, Dream Home sold 40,100 units, with its sales proportion further rising to 60.12%.

In the new energy MPV market, Voyah Dream Home has consistently maintained high popularity, frequently claiming the top position in its segment. On September 15, the 2026 Dream Home launched, receiving over 10,000 firm orders within 18 hours.

According to plans, Voyah will launch 1-3 models annually, expecting to have 6-9 models by the end of 2026.

With growing product sales, Voyah's financial performance has significantly improved. From 2022 to 2024, company revenue increased from 6.052 billion yuan to 19.361 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 78.9%, ranking third among the top 15 Chinese premium new energy vehicle companies. In the first seven months of this year, the company achieved revenue of 15.782 billion yuan, up 90.2% year-over-year.

During this period, the company's profitability improved markedly, with gross margin rising from 8.3% in 2022 to 21.0% in 2024, ranking second in the new energy vehicle industry. In the first seven months of this year, gross margin further increased to 21.3%.

Through the combined effects of revenue growth, improved gross margins, and compressed expenses, Voyah's losses significantly narrowed. Annual losses decreased from 1.528 billion yuan in 2022 to 90 million yuan in 2024, achieving quarterly profitability for the first time in Q4 2024, making it the fastest new energy vehicle company to achieve quarterly profitability and positive operating cash flow.

Since its establishment, Voyah completed only one Series A funding round in December 2022, with 10 institutions investing 3.65 billion yuan.

In July this year, DONGFENG GROUP and its subsidiary Dongfeng Asset Management continued to increase their investment in Voyah, each injecting 1 billion yuan through subscribing to new registered capital. The company's overall valuation reached 32.48 billion yuan.

Currently, DONGFENG GROUP and Dongfeng Asset Management hold 79.67% and 3.30% stakes in Voyah respectively.

**Parent Retreats, Subsidiary Advances**

To facilitate Voyah's rapid listing, DONGFENG GROUP (00489.HK) chose a "strategic retreat to advance" approach.

On the evening of August 22, DONGFENG GROUP disclosed that subsidiary Voyah would list on the Stock Exchange through introduction, while DONGFENG GROUP would complete privatization and delisting.

DONGFENG GROUP is an important automotive business operating platform under Dongfeng Motor, listed on the Stock Exchange in 2005. However, in recent years, the company's valuation has remained depressed. As of July 31 this year, the company's total market capitalization was only HK$39.12 billion, with a price-to-book ratio as low as 0.24 times, with share prices long below net asset value, essentially losing financing capability.

Meanwhile, subsidiary Voyah continues to show strong development momentum, representing the future direction of the automotive industry. Dongfeng Group hopes to allow its more growth-oriented new energy business to independently list for value revaluation.

After the announcement, DONGFENG GROUP's share price surged over 50%.

According to the plan, DONGFENG GROUP's transaction will adopt a combination of "share distribution + absorption merger," with Voyah's introduction listing and DONGFENG GROUP's privatization proceeding simultaneously.

In the share distribution phase, DONGFENG GROUP's 79.67% stake in Voyah will be distributed to all shareholders according to their shareholding proportions and share classes.

In the absorption merger phase, Dongfeng Motor Investment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dongfeng Motor, will privatize DONGFENG GROUP through absorption merger before delisting from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

To improve the success rate of this operation and accelerate progress, DONGFENG GROUP has shown considerable sincerity toward minority shareholders. In this transaction, minority shareholders can not only receive certain cash consideration but also obtain Voyah shares proportionally, securing future equity value appreciation potential.

Voyah stated that after listing on the Stock Exchange, the company can comprehensively showcase Dongfeng Motor's new achievements in electrification and intelligence, further enhance brand recognition, and accumulate international capital operation and brand globalization experience.

Earlier this year, Voyah set a target to strive for 200,000 annual sales volume and build the leading central state-owned enterprise new energy brand. Since the beginning of this year, Voyah has accelerated its product renewal and launch pace, achieving good market performance. However, current sales still have a gap of over 100,000 units from the target, making completion in the remaining less than three months of this year extremely challenging.