Here’s a Venucia D50, seen in the far west of Beijing in the spring of 2026. The Moonlight Silver sedan was in reasonable shape, fitted with the original wheel covers and Hebei Province license plates. The D50 was the first car of the Venucia brand. Let’s have a closer look:
About Venucia
Venucia is a Chinese budget-car-brand founded in 2010 and based in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Ownership shifted from Dongfeng-Nissan (2010–2017) to Dongfeng (2017–2020), and back to Dongfeng-Nissan in 2021. The Chinese name is 启辰 (Qǐ Chén), literally “Morning Star”.
Venucia’s original logo consisted of a chrome-ringed, dark-blue circular badge containing five overlapping five-pointed stars in silver and blue. The official name for the logo was “Blue starry sky, five stars shining together.”
The Venucia brand has never been a huge success. The current lineup consists of 8 aging cars, with EV, PHEV, and ICE powertrains. In June 2026, Venucia sold only 602 cars, good for a 0.04% market share and the 81st spot in the brand-sales rankings – out of 103 brands in total. The main reasons for this poor performance are a lack of dealers and a lack of new models.
The Venucia D50
Venucia produced the D50 from 2012 until 2016, with a late update in 2015. The car in the photos is a pre-update example. The Venucia D50 was based on the first-generation Nissan Tiida sedan, which Dongfeng-Nissan produced from 2005 until 2011. When the second-generation Tiida sedan arrived, the old model became the Venucia D50. Venucia redesigned the front and rear, changed the badges, and that was about it.
The wind deflectors were a factory extra. The sporty spoiler was standard. The rear lights are enormous, which was in line with the early 2010s design trends in China.
The interior
The owner of the car in the photos used his D50 as a mobile car-repair shop! Only the driver’s seat was accessible. The dashboard is in good shape for the car’s age; the beige colors still look fresh, and the dials look shiny. The seat covers, however, are a later aftermarket addition.
A tire and various other parts. Venucia equipped the D50 with luxuries like electric windows, a radio-CD audio system with 5 speakers, and air conditioning. That may sound like normal equipment today, but in 2012, it was pretty nice stuff for a Chinese budget car
Specifications of the Venucia D50
The Venucia D50 is, like the Tiida, based on the Renault-Nissan B platform. The D50’s dimensions were: 4480/1695/1535, with a 2600 mm wheelbase and a 1123-kg curb weight. There was only one engine available: a Nissan 1.6 petrol with 117 hp and 153 Nm. Venucia mated the motor to a 4-speed automatic or a five-speed manual, like in the car we have here. Venucia claimed a 185 km/h top speed and 0-100 in 11.2 seconds. The fuel consumption was a decent 6.4 liters per 100 kilometers.
Price and legacy
In 2012, the Venucia D50 manual sold for 67.800 yuan, or $10.800 using the 2012 exchange rate. That was super cheap for a 4-door sedan with a relatively large engine. Sadly, the market didn’t recognize a good deal, and sales of the D50 were super slow. Today, the first Venucia is largely forgotten; the car is nowhere to be found on Venucia’s websites, and you won’t find one in a museum either. Too bad, because the Venucia D50 was a unique Chinese-Japanese sedan that deserved better – a little better.