Nissan Expanding in China with New Venucia Brand

Dongfeng Nissan, Nissan's Chinese comrade in arms, has announced that it is creating a new brand for the Chinese market. Called Venucia (Chinese Name: Qi Chen) from the Roman goddess Venus, its goal is to help expand and diversify Dongfeng Nissan's lineup with two brands to draw in customers: Nissan, and now Venucia.

The first Venucia model will be fully engineered and built by Dongfeng and is planned to be on Chinese streets in 2012. In order to get the brand rolling, Dongfeng is readying "design, R&D, manufacturing, marketing and [a] sales network".

Dongfeng managing director Fumiaki Matsumoto says, "In the future, we aim to sell more than one million vehicles annually and the new brand will play an important role by offering practical models with class-leading quality."

The brand's Star Alliance logo is made up of five stars indicative of the five promises that Venucia intends to make to its customers: "respect customers, create value, do the best, achieve world-class quality, and seek the dream."

By Phil Alex