20 16 is about to pass. In the first three quarters, the overall market grew by 13.4% thanks to the incentive of halving the purchase tax policy. Different from the broader market, DPCA did not increase significantly in the first three quarters, but fell by 14. 1%. Among the joint venture brands, Shenlong Automobile has not only been left behind by the same Volkswagen from Europe, but even its small partners from Japan and South Korea have surpassed themselves. Has the French dinner gone bad?
Shenlong Automobile is a joint venture between Dongfeng Motor Corporation and Peugeot Citroen Group. Established in may 1992. It is one of the earliest joint venture brands in China, including two brands-Dongfeng Peugeot and Dongfeng Citroen. Fukang, one of the old three, comes from the Citroen brand of Shenlong Automobile, which once swept the land of China.
Dongfeng Peugeot-citro? n Automobile achieved sustained and rapid growth in 20 13-20 15, so Dongfeng Peugeot-citro? n Automobile set the sales target of 20 15 at 800,000 vehicles, and finally only completed 700,000 vehicles. Although the target of 20 16 was lowered to 770,000 vehicles, the completion rate in the first three quarters was less than 60%, making it difficult to achieve the annual target. At that time, both Jetta and Santana were revived in the second spring, while Elysee, the successor of Fukang, showed tepid market performance. In fact, it's not just the Elysee. None of its models have sold more than 10,000 yuan. In 20 16, the sales volume of its various models declined, such as peugeot 3008 and Citroen C4L.
Under the influence of multiple factors, such as incomplete product layout, slow update, quality problems caused by cost reduction, and excessive terminal price concessions, the sales volume of Shenlong Automobile, which once had unlimited scenery, declined rapidly.
I. Product issues
Product is the most prominent problem of Shenlong automobile. First of all, the layout of SUV products is late and the product pedigree is incomplete. The growth rate of SUV is significantly ahead of the broader market. It can be said that the growth of SUV is the locomotive that drives the growth of the automobile market, and the SUV without volume is the biggest pain of Shenlong Automobile. Peugeot has two SUV models, Peugeot 2008 and peugeot 3008, and peugeot 3008 were listed on 20 13. At this time, other manufacturers have been lying down to make money. Peugeot 3008 entered the market too late, and the product itself has shortcomings. Small body size, low front, no SUV flavor at all. In this era of looking at faces, sales are naturally not much better. At the same time, peugeot 3008 also exists in terms of fuel economy and seating space. Peugeot 2008 is one of the joint venture brand small SUVs, which performed well in the initial stage of listing, but competing products have changed their models. The 1.6L model sold in 2008 is mainly the old 4-speed automatic gearbox, which is much worse than competing products. As for Citroen, there is only one small SUV-C3-XR, and the new car launched at the end of 20 14 still matches the 4-speed automatic gearbox. Although the technology is backward, the modeling is mainstream and the performance is not bad. Peugeot SUV model is older and does not have strong competitiveness. Citroen has no mainstream compact SUV and no new car plans in the short term. It can be said that in the popular SUV market, Shenlong automobile is almost a misfire.
Secondly, automobile products overlap seriously. Citroen and Peugeot models are built on the same platform, such as Peugeot 30 1 and Alice, Peugeot 408 and Citroen C4L, and there is little difference between them, and there is also great overlap within the brand. Citroen and Peugeot have four models in compact cars, and the two brands have a total of eight models, which will inevitably interfere with consumers' choices. At the same time, dealers can't produce multiple models of the same level.
Finally, the model update of Shenlong is too slow. Citroen Sega went public in 2008, and it has been nine years now. Although C4 Sega has updated its power system, it has not changed much compared with Sega. Citroen C5 has been on the market for 8 years and has not been replaced yet. Peugeot 2008 and 3008 products have poor strength and long time to market, and have not changed to a great extent. You know, this is an era when even the public is shortening the product life cycle and replacing it early.
Second, frequent recalls lead to quality problems.
On May 1 1, Shenlong Automobile held the "5A+ Plan" conference for its medium-term business. It has established three strategic objectives of "leading quality, scale of 100 billion and excellent performance", five strategic measures to accelerate upgrading, and the strategic positioning of "an efficient automobile enterprise that provides comprehensive solutions for customers' travel". The 5A strategy emphasizes the increase of profits. Carlos Tavares, president of Peugeot Citroen Group, said that the profit rate target of Shenlong in the next five years will be as high as 6%. In fact, DPCA has been working hard on cost control in recent years, but cost control has brought some negative effects-frequent product recalls. On June 20 15, 1.6T Citroen C4L was recalled due to fuel pump problems, involving 27,625 vehicles. 20 15 May, 1948 1 Peugeot 408 vehicle was recalled due to the quality problem of the fastening bolts of the front bracket of the triangular arm. On April 20 16, the scope of recall was expanded, involving Dongfeng Peugeot 408 and 308S vehicles, totaling 24,562 vehicles. As an industrial product involving many parts, the recall of parts is normal, but the centralized product recall of Shenlong Automobile will inevitably leave a bad impression on the owner and cause the owner's quality concern.
Third, the terminal price is unstable.
The price control of Shenlong is a long-standing problem. Both Peugeot and Citroen models will be greatly improved soon after listing. Taking Peugeot 30 1 as an example, the manual comfort guide price is 85,800 yuan. However, according to the owner's price in car home, the terminal transaction price is only in the early 60,000 s, only 30% lower than the guide price, and the price is even lower than some independent brands, which makes many old car owners bluntly say that Peugeot cars must wait for the price reduction before buying. Falling prices and enhancing competitiveness are the helpless actions of many car companies. However, the prices of Peugeot and Citroen models owned by Shenlong have fallen sharply, which makes customers who buy cars in advance very angry. The range and rhythm of price reduction must be appropriate, and excessive promotion will have a negative impact; The sharp drop in the transaction price will inevitably lead to unprofitable dealers, who will rack their brains to let the customer service pay some money, and the compulsory consumption will be complained by customers.
As one of the earliest joint venture brands in China, Shenlong Automobile, which once became the benchmark of family cars by virtue of Fukang, conquered many families and operating customers by virtue of its original French romance. In recent years, due to insufficient product layout, slow upgrading and serious product overlap, we missed the hot SUV market; Frequent recalls have a negative impact; Terminal dealers cut prices sharply, which seriously disrupted the market. This series of factors eventually led to the rapid decline of Shenlong automobile.