Geely provides support to Renault for the construction of its international high-end range
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Geely provides support to Renault for the construction of its international high-end range
- Renault has unveiled a new E-segment SUV, the Filante, which was designed and will be produced in South Korea by Renault Korea (Busan) for international markets outside European markets, where the model would compete with the Rafale.
- The Renault Filante is a large SUV, 4.92 meters long (20 cm longer than the Rafale), based on the CMA (Compact Modular Architecture) platform from the Chinese carmaker Geely, which is already used by the Renault Grand Koleos. The Filante, to be launched in March 2026, will be available only in South Korea, the Middle East, and Latin America.
- Renault has been seeking to make progress in non-European markets for several years, and the results for 2025 are already proving positive, since the carmaker's sales there have increased by 11% compared to 2024.
- The South Korean market is a premium market, with the E segment accounting for 26% of total sales, ahead of the D (25%) and C (22%) segments. Mercedes, BMW, and Tesla, specializing in the high-end market, are the three most imported foreign brands in Korea.
- The Renault Filante SUV will be offered with a single engine option : a 250 hp E-Tech full hybrid. The aim is to align with the progressive electrification strategy of the international market, where, according to the carmaker, hybrids should represent the core of the market in the coming years, ahead of battery electric and internal combustion engines.
- The Renault Grand Koleos has enjoyed a reasonable success in Korea, with 25,000 units sold in 2024 and 50,000 in 2025. The Renault Filante could capitalize on this success and quickly reach 50,000 sales per year.
Renault ceases importing cars from South Korea into Europe
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Renault ceases importing cars from South Korea into Europe
- The Renault Arkana SUV, launched in 2021, was based on the Renault Captur SUV platform, with its wheelbase extended by 8 cm. Its length, increased to 4.57 m (compared to 4.24 m for the Captur), made it more of a C-segment model than a B-segment one. The Arkana was produced in South Korea by Renault Korea (formerly Renault Samsung) and enjoyed some success in Europe, with sales volumes of 38,000 in 2021, 76,000 in 2022, 69,000 in 2023, 46,000 in 2024, and 20,000 in 2025, for a total of 250,000 units imported from Korea.
- Due to a steady decline sales since 2023, amplified by the 2024 launch of the 4.41m long Renault Symbioz SUV produced in Europe, Renault has decided to stop production of the Arkana in December 2025, which means the end of imports of the Arkana from Korea into Europe.
- Koleos SUV suffered the same fate, after 15 years of importing 150,000 units into Europe from Korea. We can even go back further and recall the Renault Latitude sedan (2010-2015), also imported from Korea, albeit in smaller quantities.
- The end of production of the Renault Arkana therefore marks the end of imports into Europe of Renault cars from Korea and the Busan site is set to become a production site for Renault cars both for the Korean market and for international markets outside European markets.
Hongqi is the premium brand of the FAW group
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Hongqi is the premium brand of the FAW group
- Hongqi (“Red Flag” in English), belonging to the Chinese group FAW (First Automotive Works), is the oldest Chinese brand of passenger cars, having been created in 1958 for high-ranking officials and dignitaries of the Chinese communist regime, similar to the ZIL car brand in Russia.
- Its limited production ceased in 1981, its black limousines being replaced by stretched Audi A6s (FAW being responsible for the licensed production of Audi models), but it resumed some fifteen years later in a new form, with Hongqi becoming the premium brand of the FAW group and its range has continued to grow since the end of the 2010s. Today, around fifteen different models make up the Hongqi range including eight D, E and F segment sedans, six D, E and F segment SUVs, as well as an E segment minivan.
- In Europe, the best-known model is the all-electric EHS9 F-segment SUV, which targeted the Bentley Bentayga and Rolls-Royce Cullinan, for a much lower price (70,000 to 80,000 euros depending on the version) and whose production ceased in 2025, after 15,974 units were produced from 2020 to 2024.
- The size and diversity of the Hongqi range, along with its prestigious history, allows the brand to outpace all its rivals, with production in China reaching 418,241 units in the first 11 months of 2025, suggesting a volume of 450,000 units for the entire year. The brand has come a long way, having produced only 5,025 cars in 2016, 5,835 in 2017, 33,574 in 2018, 104,056 in 2019, 209,197 in 2020, 318,696 in 2021, 302,676 in 2022, 340,500 in 2023, and 417,520 in 2024.
Summary of the main current premium brands in China: rise of Chinese carmakers
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Summary of the main current premium brands in China: rise of Chinese carmakers
- If we summarise the various analyses on Chinese premium brands that are developing in China for an affluent clientele and are starting to arrive in Europe to compete with Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche, we find that these Chinese premium brands represent a production volume of 2.1 million cars in 2025, or 7% of Chinese car production, but are constantly increasing, while non-Chinese premium brands represent 9% of Chinese car production (2.8 million units) and have been constantly declining since 2024.
- Let us summarize here the different Chinese Premium brands in descending order of production in 2025:
• Hongqi (FAW): 450,000 units,
• Xiaomi: 400,000 units,
• Zeekr (Geely): 210,000 units,
• NIO: 165,000 units,
• Voyah (Dongfeng): 150,000 units,
• Denza (BYD): 145,000 units,
• Avatr (Changan): 120,000 units,
• Exeed (Chery): 100,000 units,
• Wey (Great Wall): 100,000 units,
• IM Motors (SAIC): 80,000 units,
• Luxeed (Chery): 40,000 units
• Yang Wang (BYD): 5,000 units.
- Hongqi is therefore the leading Chinese premium brand, benefiting from its status as a traditional automotive supplier to the Chinese government and high-ranking officials. Its product range, however, became more accessible in the 2010s and 2020s, targeting a wide variety of customers, but always affluent ones.
- Xiaomi(second Premium brand) is very recent and has had a spectacular breakthrough in the Chinese market from the start (one of the brand's two models, the Xiaomi SU7, was the 10th best-selling models in China in 2025).
- The other ten or so Chinese premium brands are linked to each of the largest Chinese automotive groups.
Voyah is the premium brand of the Dongfeng group
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Voyah is the premium brand of the Dongfeng group
- Voyah is a luxury or premium brand from the Chinese group Dongfeng Motor (the tenth largest Chinese automaker) specializing in high-end, battery electric vehicles. Founded in September 2020, Voyah launched its first model in December 2020 and currently offers four different models, with a total of 139,934 units produced in the first 11 months of 2025, suggesting a projected volume of approximately 150,000 units for the entire year.
- Here is how the Voyah range will be composed as of January 1, 2026 : Voyah Free (SUV segment D, BEV, 4.90 m long, 42,705 units produced in China in the first 11 months of 2025), VoyahZhiyin (SUV segment D, BEV, 4.72 m long, 18,902 units) also called Voyah Passion and recently available in PHEV version, VoyahZhuiguang (sedan segment E, BEV, 5.09 m long, 5,893 units), Voyah Dream (MPV segment E, BEV, 5.32 m long, 72,434 units).
- The Voyah brand has been steadily increasing since its creation in 2020. The year 2021 ended with a production volume in China of 7,602 units, 23,471 in 2022, 52,599 in 2023, 85,094 in 2024 and therefore nearly 150,000 in 2025.
- As with the Wey brand of the Great Wall group, the biggest seller of the Voyah brand is a large minivan which generally serves as a large luxury limousine in China, regardless of the brand.
- Compared to its Chinese competitors, the Voyah brand is a medium-sized Premium carmaker, comparable to brands like Denza, Avatr or NIO.