Text | Tao Wenbo
Design | microcosm
There are clouds in ancient times, and the dragon sees the beginning but not the end.
This is a praise for the style of poetry, and is often used to portray mysterious figures with strange whereabouts, or to be ridiculed by later generations as "eaten and seen" but increasingly weakened Shenlong cars.
It is no exaggeration to say that if it were not for the fact that some media have taken turns to evaluate the structural adjustment of DPCA in recent days, most netizens who do not care much about the automotive industry have long forgotten the existence of this "big brand" that has led half an era, or are completely unable to think of any specific connection between it and "Dongxue" and "Dongbiao".
A few people probably remember "Beverly Wilshire" and "Elysées", but that's about it.
According to official sources, Dongfeng Group internally refers to the adjustment as the "two-room and one-hall" model, that is, DPCA retains as a production base and maintains the existing share ratio, while its two major joint venture brands are separated into "two rooms", of which Dongfeng Peugeot is led by the French side and Dongfeng Citroen is led by the Chinese side, each performing its own duties.
Similar scale and scale of restructuring and reorganization, placed in any first-line car company, is enough to detonate the front page of the all-media platform blockbuster drama.
Unexpectedly, there is a little bit of reason, in addition to a few industry institutions known for "good (four)things", shenlong's own gongs and drums and firecrackers have not attracted much attention, and public opinion has little.
In this way, "the dragon sees the head but does not see the end" to give here is quite appropriate, as for where the "head" is, I am afraid it will go back to 30 years ago.
At the beginning of the rise in China's family car market, Citroën Group, which had just ended its failed marriage with Guangzhou Automobile, invested huge amounts of resources with Dongfeng Motor to establish DPCA - which was a rather bold move at the time.
A legend, thus achieved, the French car has since had a story.
Unexpectedly, the Shenlong automobile, which seemed to be on the side of the sword, actually ran out of the first half of the shocked four seats with quite effective means, and for a time it was the same as the limelight, and it had the momentum to compete with Volkswagen.
If the French people's unusual genes have long been deeply rooted in the bone marrow, then the first thing that DPCA has done after taking over the Citroen & Peugeot brand, and the top priority it has been doing, is to dig out those strange chromosomes that go deep into the bone marrow and cut it, as for the business backbone such as product setting and production assembly, Dongfeng Motor's old book is completely enough to eat for some years, and it turns out that it is indeed so.
The time and place are favorable, and the people are generally complete, and the "Fukang" mentioned at the beginning is the product of the arrival under such a harmonious brilliance.
Along with Santana and Jetta, the "old three" of Shenlong Fukang is based on the Citroën ZX, which is not only relatively affordable for the people, but also equipped with trendy features such as electronic jet engines, ABS and BA systems and rear wheel steering, which was an absolute "black technology" in 1998.
After that, DPCA walked on the road of "de-Frenchization", and a large number of "Chinese French cars" such as Elysée and Peugeot 307 sedan version were popular in the north and south of the country, which were very different from the aesthetics of Europeans but quite in line with the habits of mainland people.
By 2015, DPCA, which had an annual sales volume of more than 700,000 units, already had four large factories in Wuhan and Chengdu, with a production capacity of more than 1 million units.
However, DPCA is no exception, and some of the "immersed in the past" Peugeot and Citroen brands failed to detect the surging SUV boom in time, holding a few slightly outdated cars head-on into the offensive front of Volkswagen, Honda and Ford.
For urban SUVs in short supply, such as Tiguan, CR-V and Yihu, the belated Peugeot 3008 has not made waves for various reasons.
In the seven years since then, the annual sales of DPCA have deteriorated, and it cannot support four factories and a large number of employees, so the restructuring and restructuring strategies mentioned at the beginning are not so much imperative as defined as a last resort.
It is no exaggeration to say that under the multi-dimensional saturation blow of the epidemic storm, the chip crisis and many first-line brands, DPCA still has more than enough strength to hold its position, and if you want to organize a counterattack, you really need determination and courage.
The opportunity has finally arrived.
Dongfeng Citroen's Versailles C5 X was launched in such a time and circumstance, which is of special significance. This is indeed a rare good car, and it has also made many consumers deeply appreciate the preciousness of French romance and the profound foundation of DPCA.
How to continue the positive traction that the product can bring to a more stable and long-term enterprise has become an urgent problem to be solved by DPCA.
Because it is unrealistic to pin the wealth of the entire company and brand on one or two products, if you want to revitalize your glory, you will need to have a new strategic thinking from the foundation.
Information has been gradually revealed, with the French management team as the main Dongfeng Peugeot, the probability will rely on the European domestic market to introduce a number of "original" models, and greatly reduce the proportion of long wheelbase and sedan models, and strive to regain the lead in the small car market that has not yet been saturated.
At the same time, Dongfeng Citroen, which has let go of its hands and feet, will also completely invest in the field of traditional passenger cars with huge volumes, reshape its brand image and product style in a short period of time, and finally achieve a steady increase in production capacity, profits and public opinion.
From this point of view, the seemingly immovable reform has intentionally or unintentionally contributed to closed-loop internal healthy competition, just like the north-south Volkswagen and the north-south Toyota, which is a good and harmless strategy.
In addition, structural restructuring is more convenient to optimize surplus capacity and surplus labor, and it also promotes the attractiveness of R&D personnel and senior technical personnel.
In the face of adversity, it is well known that the strategy of gathering forces to attack it is common sense, but the strategy is easy to determine, the market is difficult to carry out, and the DPCA is full of people in the end, or it will face an increasingly fierce fight in the industry.
It is true that the spring breeze of reform has brought relief and self-confidence to every dragon person, and whether or not to see the willows and flowers next depends on whether the French can bring effective management strategies and competitive new products.
On the other hand, the "mutual roll" from local car companies and luxury brands can not be ignored, and the increasingly mature independent brands' encroachment on low-end joint venture brands and the continuous exploration of luxury brands are a severe threat to the frontline, but it is likely to be an opportunity worth seizing for the new concept of joint venture legal brands that have cut into the future - they are tired, it is time for me.
So far, we have seen hope, and we have also seen the strategic wisdom and reform design of the senior management of Dongfeng Dongfeng Automobile and even Dongfeng Group.
This is a good start.
It's a long way.
The dragon revival road is long and obstructed, but the hope is still there.