(Yicai Global) Sept. 28 -- Voyah Automobile Technology, an electric vehicle brand under China's Dongfeng Motor Group, is preparing to fulfill its first European orders after readying a batch of cars destined for the Norwegian market.

A group of 500 Voyah Free smart sport utility vehicles recently left Voyah's home city Wuhan in Hubei province for Norway, Dongfeng wrote in an article published on its WeChat account. Customer delivery is set to begin in November.

Potential buyers in the Northern European country have been able to book their Voyah Free cars since June. The minimum price is NOK720,000 (USD66,132), and the maximum range is 500 kilometers.

The new energy vehicle vendor plans to enter other countries, including Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Israel, starting next year. It is also preparing to introduce another Voyah-branded multi-purpose vehicle model in Europe in 2023.

Chinese NEV exports to Europe have not come out of nowhere, Securities Times reported today, citing Voyah's Chief Executive Lu Fang. Europeans have a very strong environmental awareness so they are more willing to shift to NEVs, he said. However, manufacturers of gas-powered cars have a strong technological heritage so that might slow the transformation toward electric and smart vehicles. This presents a rare opportunity for Chinese rivals, he added.

Voyah was registered in June 2021 by Dongfeng, one of China's largest state-owned carmakers, after several years of development.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi