Dongfeng Peugeot is one of the earliest brands to release sales data for the whole year of 2021, and in the past 12 months, Dongfeng Peugeot has sold a total of 51,056 cars. According to official publicity, Dongfeng Peugeot's sales data in 2021 has increased by 74% year-on-year, far exceeding the overall growth rate of the industry. But can this data really be viewed so optimistically? The answer is no, in Uncle Che's view, the sales crisis of Dongfeng Peugeot is far from over.
You know, Porsche's sales in China in 2021 are also 95671 vehicles, that is to say, for every two Porsches sold in the country, almost one Dongfeng Peugeot will be on the plate. In this case, the visibility of Dongfeng Peugeot's new cars on the domestic road has been lower than that of many luxury luxury brands. Even Suzuki, which has withdrawn from the Chinese market, sold more than 80,000 vehicles in China in the year before leaving. Obviously, for a car company of dongfeng peugeot's size, adding a single digit to the current sales data can be regarded as a rescue.
Insufficient configuration sincerity
Or the key reason for poor sales
French cars have always had a significant problem in China, that is, the configuration of low-end models is very "simple", taking the current flagship model peugeot 5008 of Dongfeng Peugeot as an example, only in the top and secondary top of the pair there are active brake and adaptive cruise and other driving assistance functions, and even the low-end models do not even have navigation functions. Such a configuration strategy makes each model under Dongfeng Peugeot unable to achieve "volume", this problem may not have been serious 10 years ago, but in 2021, the domestic 100,000-level models have begun to be equipped with intelligent technology configuration, and it is obvious that Dongfeng Peugeot's models have lost their competitiveness.
The new generation of Peugeot 2008, which had high hopes, streamlined the entire car series to only one model in less than a year and a half on the market, a 1.2T three-cylinder engine, a 6-speed dual-clutch transmission and a non-independent rear suspension of the "touching" combination, making this car unattractive, unsettling, and not selling well from the day it was listed.
The logo 408, which was once still a good move, has gradually faded out of the consumer's vision because it has not been replaced and updated for a long time. In fact, this car was cost-effective 10 years ago, and it is also one of the few French cars that do not look so "fashionable". It is a pity that in a series of subsequent operations, Dongfeng Peugeot did not learn from the success factors of this car and left the keyword "cost performance" behind.
What else can Dongfeng Peugeot rely on to turn around?
In fact, Dongfeng Peugeot had a good opportunity in 2019, that is, the debut of the new generation of Peugeot 508L. This car is equipped with frameless doors and hatchback tailgates overseas, coupled with Peugeot's unique personalized exterior interior design, which was regarded by netizens as the true successor of Volkswagen CC at the beginning of its release. Unfortunately, after localization, the new generation of Peugeot 508L castrated the most core frameless door, and the tailgate has become a conventional design, directly allowing the biggest selling point to evaporate instantly. In the future, as long as Dongfeng Peugeot can return the car to the original design, it should not be difficult to boost sales.
Another popular model is the new generation of Peugeot 308 released overseas, and like other models of Peugeot's generation, it also has a very bold and radical design. However, the new generation of Peugeot 308 in overseas is still the main 1.2T three-cylinder engine and dual-clutch transmission, Dongfeng Peugeot in the introduction of the future, or in the power system to think of a new way out.
Uncle Che summed up
In the final analysis, no matter what kind of "romantic aura" the French car has, if you want consumers to buy it, you still need to impress people with excellent cost performance. At present, in addition to the styling and interior design of Dongfeng Peugeot's models, there is still a big gap between the rest of the power, configuration, price and other dimensions in the market and second-tier joint venture brands. For brands struggling on the line of life and death, if they cannot innovate from the inside out, then it may not be far from exiting the Chinese market.