In 2021, when the sales of most car companies have declined, the sales volume of DPCA has seen a rare increase in recent years.
In the first 11 months of this year, the cumulative sales of DPCA reached 86,553 units, an increase of 97% year-on-year. Chen Bin, general manager and party secretary of DPCA Automobile Co., Ltd., said: "DPCA will complete the sales target of 100,000 vehicles in 2021. "It's a lot more than last year.
This is a good sign, but it does not mean that the DPCA car has been dragged away from the "dangerous situation".
It should be pointed out that in 2019, when it was shouted that "we are only one step away from having to withdraw from China", the sales volume of DPCA was 113579. With only one December left, DPCA's sales this year are less than in 2019.
Not to mention, DPCA's revenue in 2021 is expected to lose 1.2 billion yuan. A year before Suzuki withdrew from the Chinese market, Changan Suzuki's annual sales were still 86,000 vehicles, with a loss of less than 100 million.
What's more, the sales volume of 86,553 vehicles of DPCA automobile was achieved by the cooperation of more than a dozen models. According to public data, the cumulative sales of the Peugeot 4008, the highest sales volume, were 13,130 vehicles after the cumulative sales of the Peugeot 408 in the first 11 months; the cumulative sales of the Peugeot 408 were only 11,643 vehicles; except for these two models and the newly listed Versailles C5 X, the average monthly sales of the remaining models did not exceed 1,000 units.
Ironically, the Year Before its delisting, Changan Suzuki had only five models on sale to complete the 86,500 units. The highest-selling Vitra sold 26,640 units in 2017, twice as many as the Peugeot 4008; Qi Yue and Swift sold 18,189 and 13,652 units, respectively, with average monthly sales of more than 1,000 units.
The absence of "hard currency" has become the biggest obstacle for DPCA to get out of the quagmire.
In November this year, Citroën's new blockbuster Versailles C5 X sold 4,570 units, and a total of 8,231 units have been sold since its launch. The latest insurance data shows that from September to November, the cumulative number of insurance vehicles on the Versailles C5 X is only 4760, and the average number of insurance vehicles per month is less than 160.
While sales were tepid, the Versailles C5 X was full of negativity.
At the beginning of November, well-known car critics pointed out in the review that the Versailles C5 X was only an A+ class car, not a B class. And the Versailles C5 X's dynamic performance is not as good as the rumors. We do not comment on such doubts. However, in comparison, the Versailles C5 X body length of the positioned mid-size car is only 15mm longer than that of the Geely Xingrui positioned compact car, and the body width and wheelbase are inferior to the Geely Xingrui, and the power is also weaker than that of the Geely Xingrui. Moreover, the more expensive Versailles C5 X configuration is far less abundant than that of Geely Xingrui.
In addition to its own positioning problems being questioned, the quality of the Versailles C5 X also exposed problems.
At noon on October 24, when a test driver at a dealership in Wuhan piloted the Versailles C5 X to lead two customers to test drive, the vehicle rushed to the central guardrail, and the left front wheel collided with the guardrail. From the photos at the scene, the vehicle is suspected of having a broken shaft. Subsequently, Dongfeng Citroen's "Joint Analysis Team on the Traffic Accident of the Versailles C5 X Test Drive" determined that the "accident vehicle" was not broken.
Judging from the photos of the vehicle in dongfeng Citroen's statement, the drive shaft of the damaged vehicle was indeed only deformed and not broken. But the tires that fell off the vehicle at the accident site were only the drive shaft dust jackets. It is not known whether the vehicle in the statement is the same vehicle as the vehicle in the picture on the scene.
Not only that, but the difficulty of using the Versaille racing machine system and the acceleration and shaking of the gearbox have also been questioned by the above-mentioned car critics. However, Dongfeng Citroen did not respond positively to this.
Half a month ago, some netizens found in the video released by Dongfeng Citroen's official Weibo that the Versailles C5 X completed the elk test at a speed of 120km/h. This rare test in the industry immediately attracted the attention of netizens.
It is worth noting that the vehicle in the video at a speed of 120km/h elk test is not based on the ISO3888-2 standard to set the test area, but in the ISO3888-1 standard set in the test area. It should be known that the line change interval used in the ISO3888-1 standard test is 30 meters and 25 meters. The ISO3888-2 test area line change interval is reduced to 13.5 meters and 12.5 meters.
This "tricky" test has also attracted some media and users' questions. Dongfeng Citroen marketing, brainwashing users and other remarks are not shy.
Whether it is a slightly dismal sales volume or an endless stream of negativity, it means that the current Versailles C5 X is still difficult to become the hard currency of DPCA.
A week ago, foreign media exposed Citroën's 2022 product plan. It is reported that Citroën will launch two new cars in 2022, a mid-term revamped citroen C5 AIRCROSS and a new generation of citroen C4 L.
Judging from the hypothetical picture of the two new cars, the mid-term revamped version of C5AIRCROSS is still the C5 AIRCROSS, but the new generation of Citroën C4L has become a cross-border style sedan, which is simply a large Citroën C3 L, which is equivalent to two cars with the current model.
In this way, even if the two new cars are introduced into domestic production, it is difficult to estimate how much effect it will play in the sales of Dongfeng Dragon Automobile.
What is more clear is that in recent years, Dongfeng Group has been constantly adjusting its internal resources, and Dongfeng Renault, Dongfeng Yulon and Dongfeng Yueda Kia have gradually been liquidated. We hope that the DPCA car, which has given many good memories, is not the next one.