Venucia: owner, models, markets and what the name means
Facts checked United States status as of 4 September 2026
- State-owned
- HKEX 0489
- SSE 600006
Listing: 1,697,025 vehicles, down 0.3% year on year
Venucia was launched in September 2010 as a budget marque for Dongfeng Nissan, the Chinese joint venture between Dongfeng and Nissan. The idea was to sell simpler cars, often on older Nissan engineering, at prices below the Nissan badge. Its first production model, the D50 saloon, arrived in 2012.
Between February 2017 and December 2020 Venucia was run as a separate subsidiary, Dongfeng Venucia Motor Company, before being merged back into Dongfeng Nissan. Production reached 109,092 units in 2019. Models have included the D60 saloon, the Star and V-Online crossovers, the T60 and the electric VX6.
Ownership is worth being precise about: Dongfeng and Nissan each hold half of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., so Venucia is not wholly Chinese-owned in the way Dongfeng's own brands are. It is built and sold in China; no export market was confirmed for this entry.
Venucia is a marque of Dongfeng Nissan, the passenger-car business of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. - a 50/50 joint venture between Dongfeng and Nissan. Nissan therefore half-owns the company that owns the brand.
Venucia has been run as a marque inside Dongfeng Nissan since the separate Dongfeng Venucia company was folded back in December 2020. This entry could not confirm which models are still on sale in 2026.
Key facts
| Chinese name | 启辰 “chee-CHUN” 启 'to open, to begin' + 辰 'celestial body, early morning'; usually read as 'dawn' or 'morning star' |
|---|---|
| Also written | Qichen and Dongfeng Venucia |
| Owner | Dongfeng Motor Group |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Headquarters | Wuhan, China |
| Origin | China |
| First car | Venucia D50, 2012 |
| Vehicles | Cars |
| Segment | Mass market |
| United States | Never sold in the United States — Venucia has never been sold in the United States and the sources consulted show no plan to enter. |
| Brand launch | September 2010, as a marque of Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company |
| First production model | Venucia D50 saloon, 2012 |
| Separate company period | February 2017 to December 2020, as Dongfeng Venucia Motor Company, before merging back into Dongfeng Nissan |
| Production, 2019 | 109,092 units |
| Ownership of the parent venture | Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. is 50/50 between Dongfeng and Nissan |
Who owns Venucia?
State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council owns Dongfeng Motor Group at 100% since 2003.
Dongfeng Motor Corporation is a central state-owned enterprise whose shareholding SASAC holds. Dongfeng told the Hong Kong exchange in February 2025 that a planned restructuring might change its controlling shareholder but would not change its ultimate controller, SASAC.
Dongfeng Motor Group controls Venucia since 2010.
Venucia is a marque of Dongfeng Nissan, the passenger-car business of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., which Dongfeng and Nissan own 50/50. Dongfeng is therefore a half owner of the company that owns the brand rather than its sole owner.
| Holder | What it is | Share | Since | What the source says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. | runs a joint venture with | not published | 2010 | Nissan holds 50% of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., the venture whose passenger-car business owns the Venucia marque, so the brand is half Japanese-owned at one remove. Nissan does not hold the brand directly. |
The full ownership page for Venucia · Is Venucia Chinese?
Where Venucia is sold
Recorded in 1 market : CN. Where a company publishes only its principal markets, that is a floor and not a complete list.
| Country | Code | Market page |
|---|---|---|
| China | CN | no page yet |
Venucia: questions people ask
- Who owns Venucia?
- Dongfeng Nissan, which is the passenger-car business of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. That company is a 50/50 joint venture between the state-owned Dongfeng and Nissan of Japan.
- Is Venucia a Nissan brand?
- Not exactly. It was created for the Dongfeng-Nissan venture and has used Nissan engineering, but the brand belongs to the joint venture, which Dongfeng and Nissan own equally.
- What does Qichen mean?
- 启辰 (Qǐchén) combines 启, 'to open or begin', with 辰, a celestial body or the early morning - read together as something like 'dawn'. The English name Venucia echoes Venus, the morning star.
- Is Venucia still sold?
- The brand has not been retired, but it has been run inside Dongfeng Nissan since December 2020 and this entry could not confirm which models remain on sale in 2026.
Related
Sources for Venucia
- Wikipedia, Venucia. Read . Chinese name, September 2010 launch, D50, separate-subsidiary period, model list, 2019 production
- Wikipedia, Dongfeng Motor Corporation. Read . Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. as a 50% Nissan joint venture established in 2003