AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)11/04 Report--

The domestic automobile market continues to reshuffle, Changan PSA, Dongfeng Renault and other joint venture car enterprises have been defeated, the production situation of some weak car enterprises has attracted attention. Recently, another joint venture car company has been rumored to withdraw its investment.

A few days ago, China Business News reported that GAC Fick sales fell off the cliff for three consecutive years, a large area of idle production capacity, operating losses, and the outbreak of dozens of dealers to protect their rights. Sources close to FCA revealed that FCA has unilaterally proposed divestment from Guangzhou Auto Fick, but it is not clear the progress of this plan. It is worth noting that if FCA withdraws its investment from Guangzhou Auto Fick, it will be the second time that Fiat and Chrysler have failed in China.

In response to this matter, some media sought confirmation from the FCA and denied the external rumors of divestment. FCA said: "Fick Group has been committed to expanding the Chinese market, and there are false reports that Fick Group withdrew its investment from its joint venture in China, Guangzhou Auto Fick. In August this year, Fick Group and GAC GROUP signed a memorandum of understanding to further strengthen bilateral cooperation and jointly injected 1 billion yuan into Guangzhou Auto Fick to promote the sustained and steady development of Guangzhou Auto Fick in China. "

GAC Fiat Chrysler Automobile Co., Ltd. was established on March 9, 2010. it was jointly invested by Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd. and Fiat Chrysler Automobile Group with a share ratio of 50:50, with a total investment of about 17 billion yuan, according to official data. The company is headquartered in Hunan Changsha National Economic and technological Development Zone. At present, it has two vehicle factories, Changsha Factory and Guangzhou Factory, as well as an engine factory. The overall design production capacity of the whole vehicle has reached 328000, and the engine production capacity has reached 488000. There are 5000 employees.

Guangzhou Auto Fick used to run the Fiat brand and the JEEP brand, but now only the JEEP brand is struggling. According to the data, Guangzhou Auto Fick achieved sales of 180000 units in 2016 and 222000 in 2017, which is also the company's highest sales peak, and then declined year by year, showing a cliff decline.

In 2018, Guangzhou Auto Fick began to slow down sharply, with annual sales of 125000 vehicles, down 39 per cent from the same period last year. Quality problems broke out this year, CCTV directly named Jeep models frequently burning engine oil was repeatedly complained by users, the problem has not been solved for a long time. Under the pressure of public opinion, GAC Fick issued an announcement to recall 143900 models with 2.4L engines, the number of which exceeded the total sales of GAC Fick in 2018. Entering 2019, the days of Guangzhou Auto Fick in the cold winter of the car market are very difficult, with annual sales of only 73907 vehicles, down 41% from the same period last year and falling below 100000 vehicles.

The introduction of new cars by Guangzhou Auto Fick has basically stalled in 2020, selling only 27800 cars in the first nine months of this year. The serious decline in sales, coupled with the stagnation of the business, makes it difficult for the outside world to see the pace of development of Guangzhou Auto Fick. Therefore, it is not surprising that news such as divestment comes out.

At present, Guangzhou Auto Fick has a total of four models on sale, all of which are Jeep brand models, including Liberty Man, Compass, Free Light and Big Commander, among which the Grand Commander also has a hybrid version.

Even without the launch of new cars to revive the market, GAC Fick has made two major moves this year, brushing its presence.

In the first half of the year, GAC Fick received a loan of 1 billion yuan from Chinese and foreign shareholders, which is said to be used for the medium-and long-term product planning of the Jeep brand to accelerate the landing of the new energy strategy for all SUV products.

In August, GAC GROUP and Fiat Chrysler signed a memorandum of strategic cooperation in Chengdu. The two sides will further strengthen cooperation in the Chinese market, optimize Guangzhou Auto Fick's business, and improve the market performance of the Jeep brand by speeding up the introduction of new products and electric vehicles.

The upgrading of cooperation between the two sides can indeed shatter the rumors of "divestment", but for Guangzhou Auto Fick, improving sales is the key to self-rescue.

Guangzhou Auto Fick's decline year by year, or originated from quality problems and management strategies.

The oil burning problem occurred in the early Jeep brand 2.4L engine, and a large area of customer rights protection events affected the operation of the brand and dealers, resulting in a serious loss of brand reputation.

In addition, some dealers reflect that manufacturers have heavy sales tasks and increase inventory in order to achieve performance, resulting in tremendous pressure on dealers. Due to long-term dissatisfaction with Guangzhou Auto Fick's business strategy, the problem of discord between manufacturers and dealers finally broke out. In August 2018, dealer representatives set up a rights protection working group to gather GAC Fick headquarters to safeguard their rights, requiring manufacturers to respect the interests of dealers and compensate for losses. There are also some dealers who lost confidence in the brand and finally chose to withdraw from the gateway store.

An insider of Guangzhou Auto Fick told the media that the company's crisis originated from the collapse of dealer channels, and the fundamental reason behind the collapse was the decline in product competitiveness while enterprises ignored the affordability of dealers for the sake of sales results.

Guangzhou Auto Fick continues to decline, due to quality problems have been overwhelmed, the famous "feelings" is also slowly exhausted, there is no guarantee that it will not become the next Dongfeng Renault.

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