AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/18 Report--

As the epidemic prevention and control entered a critical period in February, consumers were quarantined at home, automakers stopped production to wait for work, and dealers were unable to carry out normal marketing activities, resulting in poor sales in February.

Judging from the February sales of the joint venture released by Dongfeng Automobile Group, the sales of the four joint ventures are not very "good-looking", and the sales of Dongfeng Nissan are slightly better than those of the other three. Sales of French cars Dongfeng Renault and Dragon Motors are still dismal in February.

Specific sales, Dongfeng Nissan sales of 14643 vehicles in February, January-February cumulative sales of 104672 vehicles, down 31.6% from the same period last year. Affected by the epidemic, Dongfeng Nissan Guangzhou factory and engine factory resumed work on 17 February and planned to resume double-shift production on March 23; Dalian plant resumed production on February 20, and now it has resumed double-shift production; Dongfeng Nissan Hubei Xiangyang plant resumed local production on March 12, and Henan Zhengzhou plant formally resumed production on March 14.

Dongfeng Honda produced and sold 0 vehicles in February, with cumulative sales of 67510 vehicles from January to February, down 32.04% from a year earlier. The sales of Dongfeng Nissan surpassed that of Dongfeng Honda, but that does not mean that Dongfeng Nissan surpassed Dongfeng Honda. It is believed that Dongfeng Honda can return to normal sales after the end of the epidemic.

It is understood that Dongfeng Honda's three factories are located in Wuhan, Hubei Province, affected by the epidemic, Dongfeng Honda plant has repeatedly extended the resumption time. On March 9, the COVID-19 epidemic Prevention and Control headquarters of Wuhan Economic and technological Development Zone (Hannan District) approved the application of Dongfeng Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and its suppliers to resume work. Dongfeng Honda Wuhan plant officially resumed work on March 11. however, at present, only small batch production is carried out, and Dongfeng Motor did not disclose details as to when mass production will resume.

Dongfeng Renault produced and sold 0 vehicles in February, with cumulative sales of 586 vehicles from January to February, down 86.98% from the same period last year. Renault is not very well known in overseas markets, but it is not popular with consumers in the Chinese market. Its joint venture with Dongfeng Motor, Dongfeng Renault, was established in 2013, and its factory in Wuhan Economic and technological Development Zone launched domestic Corega and Coreao after it was put into production in 2016. however, due to its own product strength and quality, slow iteration of product updates and other reasons, Renault's sales have not been optimistic.

In 2019, Renault's operating income was 55.54 billion euros, down 3.3% from a year earlier; net profit was 19 million euros, compared with a loss of 141 million euros ($153 million) last year, the first annual loss in 10 years.

The experience of Dongfeng Renault in the domestic market is similar to that of Dongfeng Motor's other joint venture, DPCA, which sold 735 vehicles in February and 4429 from January to February, down 76.48 per cent from a year earlier.

DPCA has three factories in China, one in Xiangyang, Hubei province, which produces engines and gearboxes, and the other two in Chengdu and Wuhan, which produce Peugeot and Citroen models. Earlier, it was reported that the Xiangyang plant of DPCA had received approval from the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control headquarters to resume work, but DPCA did not respond to this.

According to the financial results released by PSA Group, PSA Group suffered losses and writedowns totaling 700 million euros (5.355 billion yuan) in China in 2019.

The cumulative sales of DPCA in 2019 was 113600, down 55% from the same period last year, only half of the annual sales target. In fact, the decadent sales performance of DPCA has been going on for five years. DPCA sales fell to 600000 in 2016, 434000 in 2017, and plunged 32 per cent to 262000 in 2018.

DPCA, which has been struggling for years, has hovered on the edge of the market. Coupled with the fact that the epidemic has led to factory shutdowns, DPCA is in a worrying situation.

According to the market comparison of passenger car series released by the China Automobile Association, Japanese brands have increased to 23.2% from 20.0% in January-February 2019, while French brands have dropped from 0.7% to 0.3%. In the cold winter season and epidemic situation in the car market, competition among other car companies has become increasingly fierce, while French car companies should consider how to survive in China.

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