Founded in 1969,[3] it is currently the smallest of the "Big Four" state-owned car manufacturers of China with 671,000 sales in 2023, below SAIC Motor, Changan Automobile and FAW Group.

[citation needed] As a state-owned enterprise of China, Dongfeng is controlled and managed by SASAC, which under Chinese law performs the functions of an investor.

[7] The reasoning is also mentioned in a dictate of Chairman Mao Zedong; as part of his "Third Front" strategy[8] However, due to the poor state of the economy, the plans were shelved.

[7] In 1957, Hunan was picked as the site for the proposed truck factory, as the Yangtze basin area of the province didn't have any heavy industry yet.

As the Chinese economy improved, and as a result of the Sino-Soviet split, production of military trucks came into the spotlight again, and construction of the Second Automobile Works (第二汽车制造厂) was included in the third five-year plan in 1965.

This remote location was chosen as its topography consisted of over 40 shallow valleys, allowing factories to be concealed, while also being on the route of the Xiangyang–Chongqing railway.

[11] However, the percentage of consumer offerings was likely lower as passenger car counts may include microvans, tiny commercial vehicles that are popular in China.

Between 1978 and 1985[12] alongside the market-based Chinese economic reforms instituted by Deng Xiaoping, Dongfeng was transformed from a manufacturer of two heavy-duty trucks[8] with fragmented operations and ownership into a single, centrally managed enterprise.

[13] Post-1985, further reforms took place that allowed Dongfeng greater autonomy; the company was removed from the direct administrative control of the central government.

[18] Alongside First Automotive Works it saw the successful dismantling of the Automobile Corporation, a central government entity presumably tasked with preventing non-competitive business practices through dictating output volumes and curtailing purchasing as well as exasperation at the right of the State to make managerial appointments.

[14] The Chinese partner in many Sino-foreign joint venture companies, Dongfeng initiated most of these cooperative efforts with foreign firms in the early 2000s.

As of 2011,[update] it had more Sino-foreign joint ventures than any other Chinese automaker,[8] and the 2013 creation of a partnership with French Renault means it retains this title today.

[11] The number of cars counted as passenger vehicles may conflate consumer offerings and tiny commercial trucks and vans known as microvans, however.

In 2013, DFL sold the medium-heavy truck business back to Dongfeng Motor Corporation, who then formed the joint venture with Volvo in 2015.

[42] Other brands may be associated with products manufactured or assembled by joint-venture companies that see foreign firms cooperate with Dongfeng in order to gain access to the Chinese market.

Voyah (岚图) is a premium EV brand directly under Dongfeng Motor Corporation specializing in designing and developing electric vehicles.

The company previously sells the vehicle produced by eGT New Energy Automotive, a joint venture between Dongfeng and Renault-Nissan Alliance in Chinese market.

On August 29, 2017, the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Dongfeng Motor Corporation announced the establishment of a joint venture, eGT New Energy Automotive Co., Ltd.

eGT has established its production facility in Shiyan City, Hubei Province, located in the central region of China.

The joint venture shares the production line and supply chain with Dongfeng Nammi[54] and produces the electric city car targeted at European market.

[69] When the Chinese State began allowing foreign automakers market access through joint ventures, Nissan remained with Dongfeng.

A handful of Nissan joint venture production bases are located in Xiangfan, Hubei, making light commercial vehicles and cars.

[58] Dong Feng Peugeot Citroën Automobile Company is a joint venture with PSA Peugeot-Citroën set up in 1992 and based in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province.

[96] Currently selling a range of Peugeot and Citroën models, its first offering was a hatchback built from semi-complete knock-down kits, the ZX Fukang.

In September 2019, Sokon acquired the remaining 50% of the DFSK joint venture from Dongfeng Motor Group (DFG), becoming 100% owner.

[101] Created in late 2013, Dongfeng Renault Automotive Co Ltd planned to produce 150,000 whole vehicles per year at an as-yet-unbuilt production base in China.

[115] Dongfeng Mengshi (东风猛士) is a brand for military vehicle, which belongs to the Special Purpose Equipment Division of Dengfeng Motor Corporation (DFM).

[120] Stellantis (currently holds 1.58% of stakes)[121] Dongfeng sells products overseas through various legal arrangements that see mostly light commercial vehicles sold under its own brand name in a variety of formats and specifications.

Dongfeng has, at times, exported military spec vehicles to conflict-ridden nations and places including 400 to Myanmar in 2005 and 200 into Darfur, Sudan, that same year.

[137] This precipitated the Government Pension Fund of Norway abstaining from investment in Dongfeng Motor Group for a seven-year period between 2007[138] and 2014.