French cars are expected to usher in a turnaround!
On March 1, Stellantis Group Tang Weishi officially released the strategic plan for the long-term development of the Group, which was the strategic adjustment of the Chinese market business, that is, the group's joint venture in China, which was previously rumored in the industry, will be divided and ruled, and the implementation of the new model of "two rooms and one hall" has also been confirmed in the plan. As a result, this has once again aroused discussion and speculation in the industry about the adjustment of the peugeot and Citroën brand stock ratios, as well as the revival of French cars.
The so-called "two rooms and one hall" new model, two rooms also means that in the case of the same share ratio, China and France respectively dominate the two brands of Dongfeng Citroen and Dongfeng Peugeot, of which the Chinese side dominates the Citroën brand and the French side dominates the Peugeot brand. The first hall means that the two sides will share the existing commodity planning, technology, quality, industrial production and other public areas.
To put it simply, that is, the two sides will share some production resources and system resources, have a unified production quality standard, although not independent, but under the different management concepts and marketing concepts of China and France, the brand tone of the two major Legal brands may continue to form differences and self-characteristics.
At the same time, after different brands improve their right to speak, in different management models, this may also be conducive to finding the "crux" of the decline of French cars in the Chinese market.
Of course, there is also such a conjecture in the industry: that is, it is very likely to go to the other extreme, such as the Chinese-led Citroën legal system is becoming more and more weak, and the French-led Peugeot brand is becoming less and less grounded.
Therefore, "two rooms and one hall", divided and ruled, is not so much a new joint venture model, but rather a new attempt by China and France to explore the localization model from their own perspectives.
So, can two bedrooms and one living room really save the Dragon Car?
From the current situation of DPCA, since the launch of the "Yuan +" plan for more than a year, DPCA has indeed shown signs of recovery, and in 2021, DPCA has completed the annual sales target of 100,000 vehicles ahead of schedule. According to the latest data in 2022, the sales volume of DPCA in February increased by 154% year-on-year, and the cumulative number of vehicles in the first two months has exceeded 20,000, an increase of 106% year-on-year. According to this momentum, DPCA is expected to double its growth again this year.
Although compared with the peak of 700,000 vehicles, the current revival momentum of DPCA can only be regarded as a "spark of stars", but this also rekindles hope for French cars.
In 2021, the Citroën brand has launched a "Made in Chengdu Global Sales" Versailles C5 X, although it did not have a blockbuster sales performance, but it made the market have a new look at Citroën's long-dull product matrix. Dongfeng Peugeot also launched the global renewal of the brand last year, launched a new lion logo, and opened a new journey of French counter-offensive.
Therefore, under the new joint venture model of "two rooms and one hall" divided and ruled, the space left for both sides to play is also very large. According to reports, on the basis of the division and rule between the two sides, there is also news that The Stellantis Group will also revitalize idle production capacity resources, improve capacity utilization, and open the manufacturing field to third parties. For DPCA, this move is also conducive to reducing the burden of overcapacity and improving resource utilization.
No burden, light loads, no restraints, each has its own strengths. This may be the most ideal effect of the new joint venture model of "two rooms and one living room" of DPCA Automobile.
It is worth mentioning that in the strategic planning of Stellantis Group for the Chinese market, in addition to DPCA, another joint venture of Stellantis Group in China, GAC FCA, also has the latest news of the stock ratio adjustment.
According to Tang Weishi, the strategy of "One Jeep" will be adopted from now on, reaching an agreement with GAC Group, and with the approval of the government, Stellantis Group's shareholding ratio in GAC FCA will increase from the current 50% to 75%. Behind the new joint venture model and the adjustment of the share ratio, it is not difficult to see that Stellantis Group is accelerating its search for a better localization solution in the Chinese market. Behind this urgent layout, French cars may really be expected to usher in a strong rebound.