"Not all SUVs are called Jeep!" I don't know if you remember this slogan.
But in just a few years, China's SUV market has changed from a blue ocean to a red ocean, and major automakers are fighting to the death. According to the latest data, the production volume of Jeep in March 2022 was only 1 vehicle, and 1 vehicle was sold. It feels like there is not much need for domestic Jeep to exist.
From January to March 2022, GAC FCA's cumulative automobile production was only 821 units, down 87.91% compared with 6790 units in the same period last year. Judging from the data released by the Association of Passengers, in the first two months of this year, there were no sales of free men and guides under the Jeep brand.
According to the official website, gaga motor FCA currently has a total of 5 models on sale, including guide, big commander, free light, free hero, big commander PHEV, of which the guide is the sales pillar of the Jeep brand, with sales of 11,796 vehicles in 2021, accounting for more than 50% of the total sales.
So why did Jeep end up here?
[1] Except for the Wrangler, the other models are not Jeep?
As we all know, the essence of Jeep is the Wrangler. In addition to the Wrangler, the other Jeep model guides, free lights, and free heroes actually belong to urban SUVs. Their off-road ability is completely different from the Wrangler's.
However, jeep's best wrangler is not domestic, but a number of domestic off-road SUV that are not strong in off-road capabilities, so these models are not much competitive compared with their own brands or other joint venture brands.
Assuming that Jeep can make the Wrangler domestic and sell it for a reasonable price, I don't think Jeep will fall into the situation it is today.
[2] Jeep did not go out of his own characteristics
Jeep is a brand of Chrysler, which and Fiat form The Fiat Chrysler Automobile Company. Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot Citroen formed Stellantis. So across the group, Jeep is a particularly inconspicuous little brand.
And within the same group, an automotive technology is developed, often used by several brands. Slowly, Jeep gradually lost its own characteristics. There are not many unique technological innovations anymore. Therefore, Jeep has very few models, and fewer models can be produced in China.
[3] Other brand SUVs are just a branch, and Jeep brand SUVs are all of their own
For other car brands, SUVs are just a branch, SUVs don't sell well, and cars, cars don't sell well, and MPVs. Therefore, other car brands are diversified developments. But the Jeep brand is one of the few car brands in the world that only produces SUVs. SUV is all it is, once the SUV sales are not good, then there is no chance to turn over, so in this case, other brands have formed a dimensionality reduction blow to Jeep. Other brands have many opportunities to trial and error, and the Jeep brand can hardly have a chance to trial and error.
Will Jeep withdraw from the Chinese market? I don't think this possibility can be ruled out, on the one hand, the current sales of models under the Jeep brand are very low, and the Wrangler has no plans to make it domestically. On the other hand, in China's SUV market, competition can already be described as fierce. The Jeep brand is not simply using 1 to 2 models, 1 to 2 years can be saved. Therefore, it is not excluded that Jeep will also withdraw from the Chinese market.