AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)09/08 Report--

The DS brand sold 120 vehicles in China in July, down 30.6 per cent from a year earlier, with cumulative sales of 1841 vehicles from January to July, down 16.1 per cent from a year earlier. Under such circumstances, it is almost difficult for the Changan Peugeot Citroen factory in Shenzhen to operate.

According to media reports, DS is currently caught in the storm of dealers withdrawing from the net. there are three dealers in Beijing, one of which has withdrawn, one maintains after-sales service, and the other is sold in conjunction with Dongfeng Peugeot, but only DS7 models are on sale in the store. It is understood that DS at its peak is a total of 211 dealers, but now there are only more than 70, half of which indicated that they only provide after-sales service.

Changan Peugeot Citroen was established in November 2011 by Changan Automobile and French PSA, each holding 50 per cent of the shares, headquartered and factory in Shenzhen, with an initial investment of 8.425 billion yuan. Since becoming domestically made, DS sales peaked at 27000 in 2014 and 2015, then fell again and again, falling to 16000 in 2016, 5800 in 2017, and only 3867 in 2018.

Even if sales decline and products stop, Citroen said it would not give up the Chinese market. At the beginning of 2018, Changan Automobile and PSA Group announced that they would increase their capital by 1.8 billion yuan, totaling 3.6 billion yuan, to the joint venture Changan Peugeot Citroen Motor Co., Ltd in the form of cash to solve the company's daily operation and improve its operation.

After completing the capital increase, DS7 officially went on sale at the Beijing Auto Show in April 2018, with a price of 20.89-309900 yuan. DS7 accumulated sales of 2244 vehicles in 2018 and 657 vehicles from January to July 2019. Although it is the main force of DS, sales are still sluggish.

In 2019, DS proposed a trust plan, an integrated dealer network and a new car plan to enhance brand competitiveness and save declining sales in the Chinese market.

In March, DS officially released to the market and consumers the brand recovery plan of the DS Trust Program, which includes brand and product enhancement, city marketing plan and customer satisfaction, with the aim of regaining customer trust and enabling dealer partners to build continuous trust in the brand.

According to sources, the new flagship car that DS will launch in the Chinese market will compete with the BMW 5-Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. The car is expected to be named "DS 8" and uses the same infrastructure as the Peugeot 508L with a longer wheelbase. Foreign media expect PSA to display the DS 8 model at the Guangzhou Auto Show in November.

Meng Nuo, president of Changan PSA, said, "the DS brand is still relatively minority in the Chinese market. At present, the first thing we need to do is to attract users and better target customers." Meng Nuo revealed that this year, the DS brand will further integrate the dealer network and strengthen communication with dealers on the basis of enhancing brand marketing and strengthening brand confidence, so as to improve the profitability of dealers.

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