I’ll say this upfront. I have always been impressed by the innovation and technology packed into the latest Chinese EVs. Every few months, another brand drops another spec sheet that makes the established players look like they’re still on dial-up.
But specs on paper are one thing. Craftsmanship is another.
So when I was invited to the global launch of the VOYAH Dream 9, I went in curious, not convinced, initially.
As part of the trip, I walked the factory floor and watched workers go over every panel gap and huddle together over cars to inspect every small imperfection. I test drove the car through tight corners to experience its comfort, handling and tight turning radius. I molested all the internal panels to satisfy myself with how well put together the interior is. I went through a list of technology so long I stopped counting.
The whole trip has left me foaming at the mouth and pinching myself. This car is unbelievably good. And, I’ll admit it, wanting one too.
Of course, do note that the VOYAH Dream 9 that would eventually enter Singapore may have a different set of features and specifications from what I have experienced in China.
Yah, But What Is VOYAH?
If the name is new to you, you’re not alone. Simply put, VOYAH is the premium brand of Dongfeng, one of China’s oldest carmakers with 57 years of manufacturing behind it. Think of VOYAH is to Dongfeng as Lexus is to Toyota or Audi is to Volkswagen.
The most notable cars in VOYAH’s lineup are:
- Passion: a full-size luxury sedan and VOYAH’s first sedan, launched in December 2022 with electric and plug-in hybrid options.
- Passion S: an all-electric coupe SUV launched in August 2026 for younger buyers. The top version makes 475kW and hits 100km/h in 4.5 seconds, with four LiDARs and HUAWEI Qiankun ADS 5 as standard. If you’ve seen videos circulating on social media about an EV that successfully made a 360 upside down drive in a tunnel, that’s the Passion S.
- Taishan: the full-size flagship SUV, launched in 2025, now joined by the five-seat Taishan X8.
And of course, the Dream, VOYAH’s flagship MPV packed to the brim with breakthrough technology and their most remarkable craftsmanship in a single vehicle. And VOYAH Dream 9, which just launched, is the latest embodiment of those technologies and craftsmanship.
Craftsmanship: It Starts on the Factory Floor
The process of creating a well-crafted car starts all the way from the factory floor.
QA is not a checkbox here. During my factory visit of the Dream 9 assembly line, the workers I watched were not rushing cars down a line. They were inspecting panel gaps, surface finishes and fitment with a level of focus you usually associate with watchmakers. Checks were repeated. Details were questioned. Nothing moved on until it was right.
The Dongfeng foundation shows. This is a company with 57 years of manufacturing standards baked into its processes. VOYAH takes those standards and applies them to a product where every millimetre is on display.
From my brief look at the assembly process, I come away feeling that the workers have an immerse pride in their crafts, and that they are confident of their crafts. That kind of confidence doesn’t stay on the factory floor. It rolls out with every car, and it becomes peace of mind for every Dream 9 owner.
Craftsmanship: Eastern Design, Done Properly
For a Chinese brand’s flagship, it would have been easy to go overboard. Plenty of brands try to stand apart from Western design by piling on tacky Eastern motifs. VOYAH didn’t do that. The Dream 9 introduces a new design language called “Bold · Fluid · Elegant”, guided by a concept VOYAH calls the “Galaxy of Heaven and Earth”. The idea is to turn cultural values into modern industrial design, not decoration.
The proportions. Upright and confident, with the kind of presence a flagship MPV needs at a hotel porch.
The crystal retractable emblem. The wings on the emblem is made of precious crystal, and cut with 2,520 precision facets. The entire emblem rises out of the bonnet as you approach and retracts flush into the body when you leave. VOYAH says it’s the first retractable hood emblem on any MPV in the world.
The lighting. Star-inspired light elements link the front and rear of the car. My personal favourite is the galaxy and star motif tucked just below the headlights. It’s subtle in daylight and quietly stunning at night, and animates and glitters, tying the whole “Galaxy of Heaven and Earth” concept together.
On the highest Lizun Edition trim, additional details are included:
- “Dragon Scale” lower grille, drawing on auspicious Chinese symbolism.
- “Gilded Twin-String” waistline, a sculpted line running along the side of the body.
- Exclusive two-tone body finish.
- “Heaven and Earth in Harmony” floating wheels.
Craftsmanship: Inside the Cabin
Step inside and the attention to detail carries straight through.
Maple wood and aluminium. The cabin is finished in genuine maple wood veneers with aluminium inlays. The warmth of real wood meets the precision of machined metal, and the two are joined cleanly, with no perceptible seams. It’s a small detail, but one that takes serious cost and precision to pull off. And it adds a lot to the luxurious feel of the interior.
Soft touches everywhere. A suede headliner, dual-tone colour schemes and layered ambient lighting complete the space.
The second-row VIP seat. VOYAH calls it the world’s first ultra-luxury seat to combine rotation, lateral sliding, zero-gravity positioning and mechanical massage. The massage uses a travelling mechanism with airbag percussion, and it extends to the armrests and ottomans.
Seats that rotate 45, 90 and 180 degrees. Turn the second row around and you get a face-to-face meeting room, or a space where parents can face the kids on a long drive.
A car that actively welcomes you. I love how the VOYAH Dream 9 comes to life as you approach:
- The crystal emblem rises and lights up.
- The air suspension lowers the body for easier entry.
- The doors slide open and an illuminated sill extends.
- The second-row seats rotate 45 degrees outward to receive you.
Other notable interior fixtures:
- 35-speaker VOYAH Sound system
- 21.4-inch ultra-clear ceiling display
- 13L dual-door heating and cooling fridge
- LC intelligent dimming privacy glass (optional) and powered privacy curtains
Technology: The Huawei Brain
The best way to find out if a car’s sensors and processing power live up to the claims is to let it drive itself. And boy, was I in for a treat.
20 minutes of Level 3 on public roads. I was treated to a full 20-minute scenic ride in the Dream 9 with nobody driving. (Well, there was still a safety driver, to be precise.) With L3 mode engaged, the car drove itself on public roads for the entire 20 minutes. Smooth, comfortable, and no different from being chauffeured by a composed, experienced driver.
What’s making that happen:
- Full-domain Level 3 architecture with safety redundancy across eight major systems, including perception, computing, braking and steering.
- HUAWEI Qiankun ADS 5 for intelligent driving, and HarmonySpace 6 running the cabin.
- One 896-line dual-optical-path LiDAR plus three solid-state LiDARs, part of a total of 37 intelligent sensors.
- HUAWEI XPIXEL headlights with 2.6 million pixels that can project navigation arrows, lane-departure warnings and zebra crossings onto the road.
- Expanded active safety covering front AEB, lateral collision prevention (LOCP), rear AEB and eAES, which anticipates hazards to help reduce the risk of rear-end collisions.
Plenty of cars today are capable of L3. Very few have the level of redundancy built into the Dream 9. When human lives are at stake, a backup for every critical system isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s the only responsible way to do it. I’m impressed by how thoroughly VOYAH has thought this through and built it into the Dream 9.
Technology: Solid Chassis
A beautiful cabin means nothing if the bones are weak. This is where Dongfeng’s decades of engineering show.
A body strong enough to carry six cars. The Dream 9 is built around an ultra-high-strength aluminium-steel cage, with 2,200MPa steel in the B-pillars. To prove the point, VOYAH recently pulled off a six-car stack safety challenge, putting an 18.1-tonne load on the Dream 9. Yes, it’s a bit of a gimmick. It’s also a very convincing one.
That strength is engineered around the people inside. Seven layers of frontal protection and five layers of rear-end protection are designed specifically for three-row occupancy, and 11 airbags cover the front, middle and rear rows. In many three rows vehicles, the third row passengers typically have the least amount of collision protection. Not in the Dream 9.
Huju Chassis P. Developed in-house specifically for flagship MPVs, it combines:
- Three-chamber air suspension with four stiffness levels
- Dual-valve EDC damping
- VMC intelligent vehicle-domain control, adjusting in milliseconds
- Double-wishbone front and five-link rear suspension
- Intelligent electric all-wheel drive
10-degree rear-wheel steering. Bidirectional rear-wheel steering gives this big MPV the manoeuvrability of a much smaller car. Very welcome in tight HDB carparks.
800V across the range.
- Plug-in hybrid: 65kWh battery with 5C ultra-fast charging, 20% to 80% in just 12 minutes.
- Full electric: 120kWh battery.
- Amber Battery with 16 layers of structural safety protection.
China EV Tech Isn’t Catching Up. It’s Leading.
Not too long ago, saying you’d bought a “Chinese car” was enough to draw snickers at the kopitiam. Today, Chinese EVs are a normal sight on the PIE.
There have been other attempts by other Chinese carmakers to penetrate the luxury segment here in Singapore. But I dare say that with the craftsmanship and technology packed in the VOYAH Dream 9, this is the strongest and most legit entrant to the segment.
And in China, the market has already spoken. During pre-sale, the Dream 9 picked up more than 30,000 pre-orders in 48 hours. More than half of those were for the top tier and most expensive Lizun Edition. People aren’t buying the cheapest trim. They’re buying the flagship.
What’s more, existing Dream owners placed more than 20,000 upgrade orders. This shows that the Dream is a highly credible model, and owners are more than happy to upgrade to the latest model as it becomes available.
This is a new world. Buyers are judging cars on technology, reliability and design, not on where the badge comes from. VOYAH Chairman Lu Fang put it simply at the launch: “For new energy vehicles, the world is looking to China.”
And to me, this is the car to watch in Singapore.
Singapore Availability
The Dream 9 goes on sale internationally from November 2026, and based on my predictions, it is likely we will see these cars in Singapore from Q1 2027.
While the local pricing isn’t apparent at this time, the very competitive prices in China means that this will compete head-on in terms of price with various luxury EV MPV that are already in Singapore.
Do note again, that the specifications and features of the variants entering Singapore may be different from what we have experienced in China for their domestic market.
That said, if you are in the market for a luxury EV MPV, perhaps it is worth holding on to your wallet abit for the VOYAH Dream 9.
About Volt Auto
Volt Auto is the authorised distributor of VOYAH in Singapore, bringing the premium electric brand to Singapore drivers. With a bold, lifestyle-forward approach to mobility, Volt Auto is redefining how premium electric vehicles are launched, experienced, and embraced in Singapore.
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Alvinology editorial team attended the VOYAH Dream 9 Global Launch under invitation of VOYAH and Volt Auto. All opinions expressed are the author’s own and have not been influenced by the brand.
