When I checked the production and sales report of GAC Group in March, I found a set of surprising figures, and the production and sales of GAC FCA were only 1 vehicle each. Fiat in GAC FCA has long since withdrawn from the Chinese market, so it can be determined that this car belongs to Chrysler's Jeep brand. I then inquired about the brand sales data released by the Association of Automobile Manufacturers, and the domestic production of Jeep models only sold less than a thousand in March, and through the production and sales report data, we can know that most of them belong to inventory cars.
(The picture shows an excerpt from the production and sales report of GAC Group in March)
(The picture shows the retail sales of each model of GAC FCA in March) Data source: Passenger Association
The hardcore off-road brand that once boasted that "everyone has a Jeep in their heart" seems to be drifting away from us, and the reason is that the floating parent company Chrysler may have to bear the most responsibility. As early as the 2008 financial crisis, in order to continue the brand, it chose to marry Fiat, and joined hands with GAC to introduce models such as liberty hero, guide, and free light into domestic production, and the market performed well. After reaching sales of 222,300 vehicles in 2017 and the throttle incident in 18 years, sales began to plummet, and at this time, sales of many brands operated by the Fiat Chrysler Group were also sluggish, which may seem that the leadership did not have time to take care of a major factor of the Jeep brand.
Fast forward to 2021, Fiat Chrysler chose to merge with the similar symbol Citroën Group to form the world's fourth largest automobile group - Stellantis, and began a new brand plan. Jeep is listed as the highest-positioned "global SUV brand", while the group also said that it will list the Chinese market as a strategic market. But so far, more than a year has passed, these commitments seem to be only in the verbal stage, GAC FCA's equity issues have been unresolved, which is why GAC FCA is unable to launch replacement models and major overhauls.
In the domestic automobile market, the practice of "one major change in one year and one generation in three years" of independent automobile brands is no longer a rare thing, while the models of GAC FCA are basically stuck two to three years ago, and the competitiveness of products is at a disadvantage compared with competitors of the same level. Although the big commander has some advantages in terms of space and power, but the interior configuration is really difficult to say, the car networking function is only available in the top model, the entertainment function is a short board, for the home, the hard suspension performance has a certain impact on comfort, these reasons are combined, resulting in its audience only those true love fans, relying on feelings in the bitter support. Jeep is also more "head iron" in terms of price, and did not choose the "price for volume" policy like GM, but this is not entirely a bad thing, after all, excessive price reduction has a negative impact on the brand's image.
Although Jeep's various inactions in the domestic market were listed above, from the bottom of my heart, the organizational structure of GAC FCA can be solved as soon as possible to facilitate the introduction and replacement of subsequent new models. After all, many models on the market are now too homogenized, and it is expected that the "reborn" Jeep can bring some different products, whether it is to continue to carry forward the hardcore off-road style or to make achievements in the field of new energy.
The listing of the Plug-in Hybrid Version of Wrangler proves that Jeep is fully capable of playing a role in the field of new energy. What are your views or suggestions on Jeep's current situation? Welcome to leave a comment in the comments, let's discuss it together. (Text/Univision Auto Dazhuo)
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