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On January 8, 2021, the 300,000 new cars at GAC Fick's Guangzhou factory, which mainly produces the Compass and the Liberty Man, went off the line. On the day of the offline ceremony, Zhang Zongsheng, executive vice president of Guangzhou Auto Fick, Ye Rongyan, deputy general manager, Fu Qiang, deputy general manager, section chiefs and staff representatives attended to witness this important moment.

Guangzhou Auto Fick said that standing at the new starting point of 300000, the Guangzhou factory will continue to take quality as the cornerstone, innovation as the driving force, adhere to high-quality development, and strive to bring excellent products that meet consumer demand and the characteristics of SUV cars, and will start the journey with a younger attitude.

Whether we can get new development from a new starting point is unknown, but judging from the current market performance of Guangzhou Auto Fick, I am afraid it is very difficult. According to the latest data, GAC Fick's car sales in 2020 were 40513, down 45.18% from the same period last year. GAC Fick's performance was GAC GROUP's joint venture with the biggest decline and the lowest sales. In addition, GAC Fick's sales in 2018 and 2019 were 125181 and 73907 respectively, down 38.99% and 40.96% from a year earlier. Under the influence of the market, GAC Fick's performance is getting worse year after year.

Currently, Guangzhou Auto Fick has only seven models on sale, including Free Light, Commander / Commander PHEV, Commander / Commander PHEV, Compass and Liberty Man, all of which are SUV models. In terms of sales of various models, Jeep Compass is responsible for most of the sales, but it sold only 17718 vehicles in the first 11 months, with an average monthly sales of about 1600 vehicles, and other models are even more miserable.

On December 23, 2020, the new compass officially went on sale, and the new car has been changed in appearance and interior. the price range is 13.98-209800 yuan, which is significantly lower than that of the models on sale. Coupled with the end-market concessions, the price of the naked car is expected to be as low as 100000 yuan.

Guangzhou Auto Fick's approach is obvious, through price cuts to increase product competitiveness, to restore market sales, but its later market performance is not optimistic, after all, at this price of SUV models, whether independent or joint venture, than the compass excellent products.

Guangzhou Auto Fick market performance is not up to expectations, in addition to the car market itself in the downturn, more or more related to the quality of the product itself. As early as 2017, Guangzhou Auto Fick had a large-scale gearbox problem and recalled 143900 free light and compass models the following year, directly or indirectly causing some dealers to withdraw from the network. In the same year, GAC Fick sales fell 38.99%, and the decline widened to 40.96% in 2019.

As a joint venture, GAC Fick has gradually become a third-tier brand, with overall product sales in the doldrums. In the eyes of consumers before, Jeep is still a "feelings" brand, but now, in addition to "feelings", what has Jeep left to consumers?

On January 4th, the merger proposal of PSA and FCA passed a vote at the shareholders' meeting of both sides. It is expected to formally complete the merger on January 16th. The new company will be named "STELLANTIS". The merger will become the fourth largest automaker in the world, after Volkswagen, Toyota and Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. According to media reports, the future joint venture Stellantis plans to cut brands, models and factories in China to regain lost market share in China.

At present, the main brand of PSA in China is Dragon Automobile, while FCA is Guangzhou Auto Fick. Dongfeng Motor and PSA Group have made it clear that they will increase capital investment in DPCA in the next few years, including the construction of brands and products, while GAC GROUP and FCA Group have no new news except for the signing of a memorandum of cooperation in July last year.

Therefore, what kind of fate Guangzhou Auto Fick will usher in after the establishment of Stellantis will also be one of the topics worthy of attention in China's automobile market in 2021.

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