Speaking of Jeep, I think many people have some understanding, it was once synonymous with off-road vehicles, a sentence "not all jeeps are called Jeep" makes it a dream in the hearts of countless people, even if it is as strong as Land Rover, if it were not for the "cargo effect" of Zhang Jiayi in the TV series "Snail Residence", I am afraid it is difficult to compare with Jeep's popularity.
But in recent years, Jeep's presence in China has become lower and lower, and the sales of its models have been quite dismal. Some time ago, the production and sales data released by GAC Group showed that GAC FCA Jeep only sold 20123 vehicles in 2021, down 50.33% year-on-year, and the annual sales of a brand were still less than the sales of best-selling models for one month.
Once the "king of off-road" with unlimited scenery, now only sighing, maybe the times have really changed.
Short but glorious history
GAC FCA Jeep has only been established in 2015 for about 7 years, but Jeep's parent company, Fiat Group, actually established a joint venture with Beijing Automobile Industry Company as early as 1983 to establish China's first joint venture car company, Beijing Jeep, which produced Jeep Cherokee in the form of reassembly of imported parts, and upgraded BJ212.
Beijing Jeep is so popular that it even needs to queue up to pick up the car, and Jeep's brand image is also deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Freedmen and Guiders, who began import sales in 2008, are also defending sales champions for several consecutive years.
By 2016, although Beijing Jeep had long ceased to exist, the joint venture GAC FCA released a series of SUV products including Free Light, Liberty Man and Guide, and the price of these cars covered the mainstream SUV segment of 130,000-300,000 yuan, with cumulative sales reaching 179872.
In 2017, even though the Jeep brand did not put new products on the market throughout the year, GAC FCA still completed the sales of 222332 vehicles, an increase of 57% year-on-year, becoming a mainstream car company in the Chinese auto market.
Sales have declined, and quality issues have attracted controversy
Since 2017, Jeep Free Light and Guide have successively had a large-scale "burning oil" problem, and this event also appeared on the 315 party in 2018.
However, GAC FCA's treatment method is "only replace and not recall", which has been protested by many consumers, which has seriously damaged Jeep's brand image.
Under the pressure of public opinion, GAC FCA announced the recall of 143,900 models equipped with 2.4L engines, which exceeded the total sales of GAC FCA in 2018.
Since then, Jeep's situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse, and by 2020, GAC FCA's annual sales have fallen to 40,500 units, and only 20,000 units will be sold in 2021.
After years of losses, the factory stopped working
According to media reports, GAC FCA's net assets in 2017 reached 4.422 billion yuan, and by 2020, its net assets have become -331 million yuan, and it has lost nearly 5 billion yuan in just three or four years.
In addition, in September 2021, GAC FCA's Guangzhou plant was shut down, and the entire GAC FCA plant retained only one production line at the Changsha plant.
Nowadays, IT SEEMs that GAC FCA has basically come to the edge of the market, the modification of models such as the Grand Cherokee and the Liberty Man has not attracted attention, and it has lost its competitiveness in the off-road field that it is good at, in addition to the imported Wrangler, the off-road ability of other models is not outstanding, and some models have lost the style of hardcore off-road and transformed into urban SUVs.
Nowadays, domestic brands have also continued to exert efforts, launching models such as the Tank 300, which are cost-effective and high-product force, which have been in short supply for a long time, and the sales of GAC FCA models have formed a strong contrast.
If GAC FCA wants to survive, it is still necessary to polish its own hard conditions, especially in terms of quality and safety, after all, in today's fiercely competitive automobile market, feelings cannot become the foundation of their lives.