"Manufacturers sell not only cars, but also meticulous care" – and Citroën, the founder of Citroën, born in 1878, is not out of date at any time.
In this era, China's automobile is in full swing, based on the trend of "new four modernizations of automobiles", hundreds of new and old brands compete on the same stage, even if China is still the world's largest single market for automobiles, the major brands are still facing the situation of "more monks and less porridge", coupled with the market from incremental competition to stock competition, increasing user stickiness, for a company has become more important than ever.
And probably because of such a founder who advocates care and service, Citroen will be such a brand that puts the user's feelings first.
30 years, around the needs of users to change
The story has to start from 30 years ago...
Mention the "old three" in the memory of a generation, it must be indispensable to Fukang.
On May 18, 1992, the spring breeze of reform and opening up completely blew the door of China's opening up to the outside world, when the car was still considered a "luxury" for most Chinese families, Dongfeng and The French Citroen hit it off and established Dongfeng Citroen, and in September of the same year, the Citroën ZX sedan was renamed "Fukang" and officially launched in the Chinese market.
In the days when Fukang swept the country, "China's first collision", "Huaxia's first drift", "green environmental protection first car" and other memorable classic moments followed, in 1999 ~ 2003, Fukang car is the national "customer satisfaction product" for 5 consecutive years.
At that time, wealth and health represented the most simple and sincere blessings, and as the name implies, Dongfeng Citroen's vision was to let every Chinese family live a "Fukang" life with a car, so in 2001, the new Fukang free people as China's first family car priced less than 100,000 yuan was officially listed, so that more people's car dreams became within reach.
Obviously, as one of the earliest joint venture brands, Dongfeng Citroen has made some positive contributions to China's automotive industry and is constantly working hard to change around customer needs.
People-oriented, there are suggestions TA really listen
The timeline goes back 30 years.
"People-oriented, bold innovation".
This is a kind of heritage engraved in the brand DNA of Dongfeng Citroën, which used to be the classic Fukang and now the avant-garde Versailles C5 X.
As a product that integrates a variety of characteristics such as cars, SUVs, and station wagons, the Versailles C5 X is indeed a "true fragrance" car for the market, and after its listing on September 23, 2021, sales have grown rapidly, and finally ended 2021 with sales of 12114 units, and also became an important boost for Dongfeng Citroen's sales growth rate of 137% year-on-year in 2021.
This year, the Versailles C5 X has not decreased in popularity, and in March it still achieved a good result of 4700 vehicles per month.
We all know that due to the epidemic, the situation faced by French cars in the Chinese market in recent years is very difficult, so with the Versailles C5 X, how did Dongfeng Citroen go from "PUBG" to "desperate"?
Or that sentence, "people-oriented", especially young people, grew up in the era of information explosion, young people seem to be pure, in fact, when they encounter life events such as buying a car, they are very rational, and some of the means to lower the price threshold but secretly simplify it are all tricks in their view. When there is such a pricing as Versailles C5 X on the market, and the configuration of some competitive models is directly used as a standard product, it will naturally attract many young consumers.
What's more, today's Versailles C5 X has a lot of achievements created by Dongfeng Citroen and users: increasing the center headrest in the rear row, providing 7 colors, and launching the Year of the Tiger opener version and FM version. In addition to the Versailles C5 X, Dongfeng Citroen vowed to carry out co-creation to the end, not only launched the Tianyi Riding Adaptation Edition and the 2021 Tianyi Co-creation Edition co-creation version co-created with users and with its own bicycle and roof rack, but also launched the 2022 C6 Co-creation Edition.
Even if the enterprise stands in the user's point of view to think, due to the different positions, it is inevitable that there will be deviations in the user's demand cognition, it is better to return the initiative to the user, give them the opportunity to express directly, and even let them participate in the creation of the product, and finally get the finished product that the user really wants.
It can be said that Dongfeng Citroen this brand can be placed, the user has suggestions he is really listening. Even though most companies today are aware of the importance of user centricity, not many practice this philosophy is implemented to the end.
Service care, all put into practice
Dongfeng Citroen's "people-oriented, bold innovation" is not only reflected in the product, but also in the service.
In October 2020, at the restarted Wuhan and Yu Shenlong Cultural Festivals, Dongfeng Citroen released the "Five Hearts Guardian Action", namely: buy a car with confidence, use a car with peace of mind, provide intimate service, change cars happily, and work together all the way, which shows Dongfeng Citroen's determination to fully focus on "customer-centric" and open a "brand upward" transformation.
This is not just talk, during the previous May Day holiday, Dongfeng Citroen has cooperated with 100 dealers to provide more than 25,000 users with free inspection of vehicles, refueling and other care services in 85 high-speed service areas or tourist attractions.
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the company, Dongfeng Citroen announced the "Five Hearts Guardian Action 2.0".
Based on the "Five Hearts Guardian Action 2.0", Dongfeng Citroen also pioneered the launch of the "Full Min Versailles for Love Experience - Enjoy 48 Hours test drive" activity, people interested in Dongfeng Citroen products can apply for 48h+ Versailles C5 X test drive experience from dealers for free through multiple channels, after experiencing in-depth test drives, users will naturally make more reliable decisions.
In addition, the establishment of the 131X user growth system also shows the caring and bold innovation side of Dongfeng Citroen, through the construction of the Smile Tower to create a community brand, to build a three major community systems that grow together with users, so as to create a wireless wonderful life with users.
Since the beginning of the year, with the participation of Dongfeng Citroen, more than 100 customer self-built groups have been established, so that young people of different occupations and different groups can gather together because of the same hobbies, break social boundaries, and find a comfort zone that can resonate with themselves.
"Thirty and more, for love to witness", the 30th anniversary of its establishment, whether it is brilliant or trough, for Dongfeng Citroen has become the past, it is important to look to the future, when the key "window period" of china's automobile industry transformation, Citroën has achieved initial results around the changes made by users, we can expect that in the next 30 years, the story between Dongfeng Citroen and the Chinese market and Chinese users will be better extended.