Compared with the hot sales of Japanese joint venture cars and German joint venture cars, french joint venture cars do not have a strong presence in the domestic automobile market. Dongfeng Renault and Chang'an PSA have fallen into a quagmire of huge losses in recent years. Unlike Dongfeng Renault and Changan PSA, there is a French joint venture car company that has not given up its efforts.
French car "back to the light"? On the eve of the Spring Festival in 2022, DPCA announced that it had completed the annual challenge target of 100,000 vehicles ahead of schedule, an increase of 100% year-on-year, achieving positive growth for 13 consecutive months. Let's briefly sort out the development of the enterprise: DPCA was founded in the 1990s as a passenger car production and operation enterprise jointly built by Dongfeng Motor Group and The French PSA Group. The company's business scope covers vehicle, parts manufacturing and sales, used cars, brand chain maintenance services and other businesses. There are domestic advanced stamping, welding, painting, assembly and engine, axle, transmission production technology, all tooling equipment to reach the international advanced level. It has two joint venture brands of Dongfeng Peugeot and Dongfeng Citroen.
In the early 1990s, the European auto giant PSA saw the huge potential of China's auto industry development and decided to develop in China and set up a joint venture to open up the market. Coincidentally, this idea coincided with Dongfeng Motor, which was looking for foreign investment to cooperate in the development of China's automobile industry. After the two companies entered the negotiations, they decided to set up a joint venture in Wuhan with 50% of the shares of each party. The first assembled Fukang sedan rolled off the production line at the Xiangfan Dongfeng Trial Fitting Factory. This car occupies an important position in the history of domestic automobiles, and once called the "old three" of Chinese cars along with Jetta and Santana.
DPCA seized the golden age of TV publicity and invited film and television star Zhu Shimao to endorse it, improving brand awareness and occupying the market high ground in one fell swoop. Subsequently, DPCA launched two brands of automotive products of Dongfeng Peugeot and Dongfeng Citroen while it was hot, ushering in a period of rapid sales growth, with annual sales of more than 700,000 vehicles. At that time, the blind confidence of executives, coupled with frequent complaints and recalls of products, word of mouth and sales both fell. PSA Group has made an analysis of the decline in sales of DPCA: the main reason is the way of communication and the misinterpretation of the needs of Chinese consumers; on the other hand, the company's business in China is inefficient in operation and slow product updates.
About three years ago, after realizing a series of problems, DPCA launched the "Yuan" revival plan. The plan is roughly to transfer Dongfeng's managers who understand the Chinese market to become general managers. The company has carried out an innovative change, changing the direction of "product, marketing, service, operation" four aspects, and launched more than ten new models for the needs of Chinese consumers. Unexpectedly, as soon as this plan was implemented, the effect was immediate and the company ushered in a trend of sales rebound. Sales have maintained a positive growth trend in the past year, and the launch of the new flagship model Versailles C5 X was also selected as the "Top Ten Cars of the Year in China" by the 9th Xuanyuan Awards.
In the eyes of the outside world, the dismal sales performance of French cars in China is caused by their own blind self-confidence and stubbornness. In the past five years, sales have declined, and DPCA has experienced losses, changing executives, selling land, and closing factories. The goal of selling 100,000 vehicles a year is only the first hurdle, and it is necessary to continue to move forward. All car companies should know that only by conforming to the development trend of the market and meeting the needs and preferences of customers as much as possible can they make a difference in the market.