Dongfeng Nammi Box arrives in Europe as £19,500 rival to Citroen e-C3
Chinese car maker Dongfeng has entered the European EV market with the Nammi Box – a budget rival to the Citroen e-C3 and Dacia Spring.
The Nammi Box has gone on sale in Switzerland priced at CHF21,990 (£19,615), ahead of an expected roll-out to other markets.
Like the e-C3, the Nammi Box is a supermini with a small footprint (4m by 1.8m) and relatively modest technical stats.
Based on Dongfeng’s own platform, the Nammi Box uses a single 94bhp motor to drive the front wheels. A 42.3kWh battery provides up to 193 miles of range on the WLTP test cycle. The e-C3, which at £21,035 is the Box’s clearest rival, offers 199 miles from its 44kWh battery and delivers 111bhp from its similarly front-mounted motor.
The Dacia Spring, which undercuts both by around £4,000, offers just 64bhp and a range of 137 miles from its 26.8kWh battery.
Externally there are elements of Smart #1 and BYD Dolphin about the Nammi Box’s design and the interior is reminiscent of Hyundai and Kia layouts. Drivers get a 12-inch multimedia touchscreen and separate digital instrument display, along with wireless phone charging and what appears to be a white quilted leather dashboard. Unusually, the front seats fully recline allowing passengers to stretch out across the entire length of the car.
It is believed that Dongfeng could keep the price of the Nammi Box down by building the car in Europe. The Chinese state-owned firm is understood to be in advanced talks with the Italian government over a planned new factory in Italy. Doing so would allow it to avoid import tariffs on Chinese-built EVs, which currently stand at up to 38%.
