AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)05/02 Report--

On April 1, DPCA released the latest data showing that cumulative sales from January to April in 2022 were 39632, up 57.7% from 25134 in the same period in 2021, of which April sales were 9316, up 22.7% from 7595 in the same period in 2021. It should be noted that the data released by DPCA is wholesale.

Previously, DPCA said it would reach 170000 and challenge 200000 in 2022. If calculated on the basis of 170000 vehicles, DPCA achieved its sales target of 23.3% by April, which means that DPCA will need to sell more than 16000 vehicles a month to meet its sales target, and under the influence of the current epidemic and spare parts supply, whether DPCA can achieve its target is also uncertain.

According to previous reports, Stellantis Group will adjust its business in China, and DPCA will adopt the plan of "two rooms and one hall", in which "two rooms" means that Dongfeng Peugeot will be dominated by France and Dongfeng Citroen will be dominated by China. "one hall" refers to the sharing of existing public areas such as commodity planning, technology, quality and industrial production. According to related reports, Stellantis Group and Dongfeng Motor began negotiations on equity adjustment of DFMC, with a foreign holding of 75 per cent of Dongfeng Peugeot and a 75 per cent stake in Chinese controlling shareholder Citroen, with the shares held by both parties unchanged at 50:50.

It is not difficult to see that after several twists and turns, DPCA finally realized the importance of localization and tried to increase the internal competition mechanism of Peugeot and Citroen with the "two rooms and one hall" project, so as to mobilize the enthusiasm of the two brands. this is both an opportunity and a challenge for DPCA. In the current rapidly changing Chinese automobile market, it is necessary to re-obtain tickets and obtain certain rankings. It is not enough to rely on Versailles.

Looking back at that time, when DPCA first entered the Chinese market, it achieved good results during the period of rapid growth of the Chinese car market. It reached a sales peak of 704800 vehicles in 2015, and the ambitious DPCA began to hit the million target. However, the spring tide receded, and instead of realizing its ambitions, DPCA's sales continued to decline, falling by 15.2%, 36.85%, 32.89%, 55.17% and 55.74% respectively from 2016 to 2020, with sales falling for five consecutive years compared with the same period last year. At the same time, sales halved for two consecutive years.

In order to reverse the decline, DPCA put forward the slogan "recovery", and Dongfeng Citroen and Dongfeng Peugeot also began to work on internal reforms, products, marketing and other aspects from 2018 to change the persistently depressed sales and performance. In addition, DPCA will sell a factory in 2019, and the DPCA II plant has been officially taken over by Dongfeng Honda and will be transformed into a pure electric car factory, which means "reducing cost and increasing efficiency".

According to the official website, Dongfeng Peugeot's products currently on sale include brand new 5008, brand new 4008, 2008, 508L, 408 and other models, while Dongfeng Citroen's products include Tianyi C5 AIRCROSS, new C3-XR, Versailles C5X, C6 and other models, of which Versailles C5X is the highest selling model. Take March sales as an example, Versailles C5X retail 4700, while Peugeot 4008, Peugeot 2008 sales of 1294, 1264, Versailles C5X carried the Dragon car is no exaggeration.

Versailles C5X has become the main selling product, which has distinct advantages and disadvantages for DPCA. First of all, without the Versailles C5X, DPCA's sales would be ugly. Secondly, the sales volume of DPCA depends on Versailles C5X. If there is a crisis in Versailles C5X, it will have a great impact on DPCA. Therefore, at present, DPCA needs to launch more advantageous products, and in the current environment of China's auto market, under the background of independent brands up and joint venture brands down, in the context of the transformation of traditional fuel vehicles to new energy vehicles, the rapid rise of new car-building forces, and cross-border car-building, it is not easy for DPCA to gain a foothold, and it is necessary to inject a shot in the arm to stabilize the situation.

Earlier, Stellantis Group reported that North America and Europe were the most important markets for Stellantis Group, with the former contributing 29.64 per cent of shipments in 2021 and the latter contributing 45.58 per cent of shipments. In the two financial data of net revenue and adjusted operating profit, North America ranks first in terms of contribution, while Europe ranks second. However, as the world's largest auto market, Stellantis Group's performance in the Chinese market can only be described as lacklustre. Data show that in 2021, the annual sales of Stellantis's Chinese joint ventures, Dragon Motor and Guangzhou Auto Fick, were only 100000 and 20, 000, respectively, falling short of the monthly sales of mainstream brands.

On the performance in the Chinese market, Tang Weishi, CEO of Stellantis Group, said, "We are very disappointed with the Chinese market." Tang Weishi said frankly that for the Chinese market, in addition to DPCA's "two rooms and one hall" plan, as part of the light asset business model, Stellantis will only retain the GAC Fick Changsha plant to reduce fixed costs. In addition to "saving money", Stellantis has obviously not found a way to "make money" in the Chinese market, which also means that Stellantis Group has drifted away from the Chinese market under the global tide of smart electrification.

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