After completing the annual target, can the "fallen" DPCA "look up" again?

At a more severe critical moment in the automobile market, the "laggard" DPCA completed the annual challenge target of 100,000 vehicles ahead of schedule. The sales performance of DPCA is inseparable from its focus on products, services, marketing and other levels, and DPCA has been accelerating its return to the right track to achieve better market performance.

It is not difficult to see that the increase in sales has obviously given DPCA a lot of confidence, but DPCA has stalled in the Chinese market for too long, and whether the completion of the sales target can become a signal for its beginning to recover and how long this momentum can last is still unknown.

Stalled for a long time there is no way back

According to the official information released by Dongfeng DPCA, the cumulative sales of cars this year are 100567, an increase of 100% year-on-year, of which the cumulative sales of Dongfeng Citroen are 49,511 vehicles, an increase of 137% year-on-year; the cumulative sales of Dongfeng Peugeot are 51,056 vehicles, an increase of 74% year-on-year. In fact, as early as the first quarter of this year, DPCA began to climb slowly. According to public data, the cumulative sales volume of DPCA from January to March was 16,700 units, an increase of 175% year-on-year, and the sales target completion rate in the first quarter reached 110%. Some industry public opinion even believes that this is the signal that DPCA has begun to recover, after all, DPCA has stalled in the Chinese market for too long, so long that it has begun to gradually forget its highlight moments.

If the time is returned to 2015, it is not too much to describe the DPCA at that time as a spirited car. At that time, DPCA established a fourth plant in Chengdu and was ready to continue to increase production capacity and expand the scale of the company. After completion, the total production capacity of the four plants of DPCA automobile will exceed 800,000 units. For DPCA, which sold more than 700,000 vehicles a year at the time, the production capacity of 800,000 vehicles was almost within reach.

But unexpectedly, a year later, DPCA sales fell below 600,000 units, and then fell all the way, falling to 377,000 units in 2017, down 15.2% year-on-year; in 2018, DPCA sales fell to 253,000 units and closed idle factories to reduce operating costs; in 2019, sales directly dived to 113,600 units. It is reported that the annual sales target of DPCA in 2019 is 235,000 units, and it can be seen through calculation that the target completion rate is less than 50%. In the same year, DPCA laid off nearly 2,000 employees; by 2020, DPCA's sales of only 50,000 vehicles remained, down 55.74% year-on-year.

Due to the heavy decline in sales, DPCA has become a marginal existence, and even once rumored that "DPCA Automobile will be delisted", until December 2019, PSA Group and Dongfeng Group renewed the cooperation agreement, and the agreement of DPCA was extended to 2037, and the delisting rumors were broken. But DPCA is also well aware of its own situation, and Chen Bin, general manager of DPCA, even said bluntly: "DPCA has experienced a cliff-like decline, we can no longer speculate, we cannot take opportunism, we must do a good job in a down-to-earth manner." ”

On September 4, 2020, an employee of DPCA motor released a message in the circle of friends to challenge Chen Bin, who had just been the general manager of DPCA for only 2 days: "On May 18, 2021, if the overall sales volume of DPCA increases by 8%, I will run from Shiyan to Wuhan to complete a 518-kilometer ultra-long marathon!" In the face of the challenges launched by employees, Chen Bin responded for the first time: "The target of 8% is set too low, and the sales target of DPCA in 2021 will be much higher than this target." In Chen Bin's view, DPCA has no way to retreat, and the series of new policies released have not left a retreat for DPCA, but only hope to become the starting point of the rebound of DPCA.

Chen Bin must give such a reply with great determination and courage, because not only DPCA, but also the entire Market share of French cars in China is gradually shrinking. According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the market share of French passenger cars in the first 11 months of 2021 was only 0.6%, and the objective reason was that it was difficult to adapt to the Chinese market after entering China, and the water and soil were seriously dissatisfied. In addition, there are a series of development problems in the global market, such as the decline in brand power caused by delisting, the restart of the track in the field of new energy, and the crushing of brands in the post-joint venture era, but the most commonly discussed issue of Dongfeng Peugeot Is the contradiction and conflict between the management and France.

China holds the right to speak

Jia Xinguang, an analyst in the automotive industry, pointed out in an interview with the China Times that foreign-funded enterprises want to truly take root in China, and they must first localize raw materials, products and talents. DPCA has been slow to implement. Only Chinese can better understand the preferences of Chinese, but DPCA has always adopted the method of co-governance between Chinese talents and French executives, and the decisions of both sides must be declared and unified by both parties, and finally issued, local talents cannot fully exert their understanding of China, and French executives are always anxious and confused about why products are not welcomed by the market.

In the face of such a situation, DPCA must make changes. In October 2019, DPCA released the "Yuan" revival plan, aiming to boost sales through the three stages of Peiyuan, Guyuan and Tuoyuan. However, the "Yuan" plan did not bring the expected effect to DPCA. In order to reverse the predicament, DPCA can only start to carry out personnel changes, hoping to "change the coach and live blood". In May 2020, Zhang Zutong, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and deputy general manager of Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd., will concurrently serve as the chairman of DPCA Motor, and in September of the same year, Chen Bin will be appointed executive deputy general manager and party secretary of Dongfeng Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd.

In October of the same year, Mao Chuangxin, senior director of the sales branch of Dongfeng Citroen brand department, succeeded Ren Guang as the general manager of Dongfeng Citroen. Also in October, DPCA announced the "Yuan + Plan" and "Five Hearts Guardian Action", which upgraded the four major aspects of product, marketing, service and operation; in June 2021, Luo Ming succeeded Greene as the general manager of the Dongfeng Peugeot brand department of Dongfeng Peugeot Automobile Co., Ltd. and a member of the executive committee. With Luo Ming's appointment, DPCA has become the jurisdiction of Chinese leaders across the board, which not only means the eastward shift of discourse power, but also the innovation made in order to completely change the "water and soil".

Jia Xinguang told reporters: "The fact that Luo Ming took office can be understood as the French have no confidence, and it is up to Chinese to fight a battle." However, the 'failure' of An Tiecheng in the past few years shows that the employees of Shenlong do not have the courage to break the boat, do not have the determination to sacrifice, and hope to have a victorious counterattack in a position that is becoming more and more narrow and almost exhausted. ”

As Jia Xinguang said, although DPCA has completed the "eastward shift" of the right to speak, and has also come up with the determination of comprehensive reform, and has achieved certain results, there is still a way to go if it wants to completely realize the "dragon head" to return to the mainstream market or even return to the glory days. Chen Bin said: "'100,000 vehicles' is a threshold for Shenlong Automobile, and winning this life-and-death battle this year is equivalent to rushing out of the 'Luding Bridge'." He also said bluntly that the road to the revival of the Divine Dragon is heavy and long.

Responsible Editor: Li Yan'an Editor-in-Chief: Yu Jianping