Dongfeng firms for Australia via Sydney retailer

A surprise candidate to sell Chinese auto giant Dongfeng's electric vehicles has emerged in Australia.

IGZEV (iGlobal Zero Emission Vehicles) is a Sydney-based sustainable mobility retailer already selling the Dongfeng Forthing Friday medium electric SUV in Fiji.

It wants to bring the Forthing Friday and/or another Dongfeng product called the Nammi Box to Australia.

However, IGZEV's plan hinges on meetings in China in the coming weeks between its business development manager Nickhil Naiker and Dongfeng executives.

“I guess the only thing we can confirm is that we're in Fiji,” Naiker told carsales. “We wanted to target the Oceania region, so Fiji is one of the islands that we were targeting.

“As for Australia, there's not too much I can confirm yet, only because the Australian plan is up to them [Dongfeng] when they feel it's right.

“So that's what the trip's going to be about. It's going to be to meet them and see where they're at and what their game plan is.”

Dongfeng is a state-owned Chinese auto maker based in Wuhan and a member of the big four alongside SAIC, Changan and FAW. Forthing and Nammi are among multiple sub-brands.

Previously Dongfeng’s Mengshi M-Hero was linked with the Walkinshaw Group in 2024 and in 2019 Dongfeng declared an ambition to have its EVs on sale here in 2020.

Dongfeng is also in a joint-venture with Nissan in China, and the Frontier Pro PHEV ute revealed at the Shanghai auto show in April is one of the products from that venture that seems certain to come to Australia.

IGZEV is a spin-off from a company called iEngineering which is also owned by the Naiker family.

The founder of both and driving force in the engagement with EVs is electrical engineer Durgeshan ‘Bobby’ Naiker.

“iEngineering has had a few projects in the past where we've done charging installation and design for our clients,” explained Nickhil Naiker.

“So that's why we took this transition because Bobby is a big fan of EVs. He drives an EV himself. So he's kind of just fallen in love with the concept.

“And because of our experience with iEngineering in designing chargers, we thought ‘why not take a stab at electric vehicles and charging?’ So that's the background of how it came to be.”

Currently on its website IGZEV also promotes Chinese Kinwin electric trucks and buses as well as AC chargers.

It also has a page promoting passenger electric vehicles with the Friday as the most prominent model.

IGZEV began casting around for a Chinese EV brand to sell in Australia after its establishment in 2023. It struck a deal to sell the Forthing Friday in Fiji via an agent.

It is treating the launch in Fiji very much as a learning experience as it has no prior automotive retailing experience.

At this stage neither the Forthing Friday or Nammi Box have Australian Design Rule compliance, have not been ANCAP rated and no locked-in pricing. IGZEV has no preference at this stage whether sales are via franchised dealers or agency.

“All the answers to those questions are all dependent on what happens during my trip there,” said Naiker.

“Because, if they simply say 'listen, no, we're not going to go into Australia anytime soon' … Then it's kind of out of our hands at that point.”

However, Nickhil Naiker indicated that in Australia the Forthing would logically be positioned on price and size as a BYD Atto 3 rival, which starts at under $40,000, while the smaller Nammi Box would line up against the BYD Dolphin, which is priced from under $30,000.

The Forthing Friday is a 4600mm long, 1860mm wide, 1680mm tall five-seat SUV underpinned by a 2715mm wheelbase. It is powered by a 150kW/340Nm e-motor driving the front wheels. It has 64.4kWh Lithium-ion Phosphate battery pack and a claimed 425km range. The maximum DC fast charging rate is only 80kW.

The Friday has been in production since 2020. Forthing has been in existence since 2001.

The Nammi Box has already been employed as Dongfeng’s spearhead into Europe and is positioned as one of the market’s cheapest EVs.

It comes with a 42kWh battery providing a range of 310km, and a single 70kW drive motor. Nammi is an EV brand established in 2020.

Both vehicles are available in right-hand drive which is a key reason they are being considered for Australia.

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