AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)12/28 Report--

Dongfeng Automobile Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Dongfeng Co., Ltd.") issued a notice on December 28th, saying that in order to further improve the company's operating quality and promote the coordinated development of its business, it decided to integrate Dongfeng Nissan passenger car Company and Dongfeng Qichen Automobile Company, as well as Dongfeng Automobile Co., Ltd. Equipment Company and Dongfeng Automobile parts (Group) Co., Ltd.

According to Tianyan check information, Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. was established on May 20, 2003. it was jointly funded by Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd. and Nissan (China) Investment Co., Ltd., with a registered capital of 16.7 billion yuan. Each party holds 50% of the shares.

Previously, Dongfeng Co., Ltd. had seven business divisions, namely, Dongfeng Nissan passenger car Company, Dongfeng Qichen Automobile Company, Dongfeng Infiniti Automobile Co., Ltd., Dongfeng Automobile Co., Ltd., Zhengzhou Nissan Automobile Co., Ltd., Dongfeng Auto parts (Group) Co., Ltd. And Dongfeng Automobile Co., Ltd. Equipment company.

According to the announcement, after the integration, there are only five major divisions under Dongfeng Co., Ltd. they are Dongfeng Nissan passenger car Company, Dongfeng Infiniti Automobile Co., Ltd., Dongfeng Automobile Co., Ltd., Zhengzhou Nissan Automobile Co., Ltd. And Dongfeng Auto parts (Group) Co., Ltd.

According to the announcement, Dongfeng Qichen Qichen will be brought under the management of Dongfeng Nissan, changed from an independent brand to the second brand of Dongfeng Nissan passenger car Company, and from Dongfeng Limited Branch to the headquarters-level organization of Dongfeng Nissan. In addition, Dongfeng Auto parts (Group) Co., Ltd. will also integrate with Dongfeng Automobile Co., Ltd. Equipment Company.

The reason why Dongfeng Qichen has been reintegrated into Dongfeng Nissan as its second brand may have an important relationship with its current market performance. Data show that Qichen brand was first a Dongfeng Nissan joint venture independent brand, which was launched on September 8, 2010. at the Beijing International Auto Show in April 2012, Qichen D50 was officially put on sale. January 10, 2015, the second model Qichen T70 was officially launched, and in September of the same year, Qichen T70X was also put on the market, and these two models became the main sales force of Qichen brand. On February 7, 2017, Qichen brand was officially independent, leaving Dongfeng Nissan directly under Dongfeng Automobile Co., Ltd., at the same level as Dongfeng Nissan, Dongfeng Nissan Qichen was also changed to Dongfeng Qichen.

In the year when the brand announced its independence, Dongfeng Qichen's cumulative annual sales reached 143000 vehicles, which is the peak of Qichen car sales. Since then, Dongfeng Qichen has continued to decline. In 2018, Dongfeng Qichen's cumulative sales fell 6.04 per cent year-on-year to 134000 vehicles, 8.6 per cent to 123000 vehicles in 2019 and 32.76 per cent to 69000 vehicles in November 2020. Not surprisingly, Dongfeng Qichen's sales will usher in "three consecutive declines".

As for why Dongfeng Qichen declined continuously after the independence of the brand, the main reason is the lack of core technology. From the product point of view, Dongfeng Qichen mainly depends on Qichen D60, Qichen Star and Qichen T90 to maintain sales, especially Qichen D60 plays an important role in supporting the brand. However, Qichen D60 is only the shell replacement product of Nissan's old Xuanyi, although the three major pieces are the same as Xuanyi, but because the new Xuanyi commonly used a new design language and power composition, in the case of intensified competition and price of car products, Qichen D60 has long lost its competitive advantage. Data show that Qichen D60 accumulated sales of 27840 vehicles in the first 11 months, down 55.77% from a year earlier.

Another model, Qichen Star, is the second main sales force of Dongfeng Qichen, which is a brand new product launched when Dongfeng Qichen suffered a sales setback, but its current sales still cannot save the decline of the brand. The main problem is the lack of core technology. Qichen Star uses the combination of 1.5T+7 double clutch gearbox, which costs 12.66-149600 yuan. The inflated price and quality problems lead to its low sales. In the first 11 months of this year, Qichen Star sold a total of 17386 vehicles, with an average monthly sales of less than 3000 vehicles.

Perhaps in such a development dilemma, Dongfeng Limited re-examines the future development direction and returns to Dongfeng Nissan after more than three years of brand independence. Return to Dongfeng Nissan Qichen, what kind of development opportunities will be ushered in, is also worth looking forward to!

Data show that Dongfeng Co., Ltd. accumulated sales of 1289507 vehicles in 2020, down 6.34% from the same period last year. Of these, Dongfeng Qichen was 69042, down 32.76% from the same period last year; Dongfeng Nissan was 991085, down 4.81% from the same period last year; and Dongfeng Infiniti was 21786, down 28.22%.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat