Is there a future for French cars? I believe that the answer in most people's minds is "no", but we should still analyze rigorously today, where is the past and future of French cars. When it comes to French cars, most people’s earliest impressions and contacts may come from one of the “oldest three” of the year-Fukang. After entering the 21st century, it can be said that it was a brief glorious period of French cars, and in 2016 Reached the peak of sales in the year.
Take PSA Group's Peugeot and Citroen as examples. In 2016, the total domestic sales reached 700,000 units. It was also from this year. In the next 5 years, French cars have been on the decline. , Sales fell to only 50,000 units by 2020.
So why did the French car fall rapidly in such a short period of time, and can it return to its peak in the future?
As we all know, there are five main French passenger car brands, namely Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Renault and Bugatti. Aside from the smallest Bugatti, the first four mainstream brands are all listed as joint ventures in China. However, just last year, Renault officially announced its withdrawal from China's fuel passenger car market.
So let's first talk about the reasons for Renault's failure in China. First of all, Dongfeng Renault's biggest flaw is that it was established too late and missed the golden age of the fastest growing Chinese auto market. Dongfeng Renault was established in December 2013. In 2017, Dongfeng Renault's first joint venture model Correga went on the market. However, in 2018, the Chinese auto market ushered in the first market shrinkage in 30 years.
Secondly, Renault's products are seriously out of the Chinese market demand. For example, Dongfeng Renault's first model, Correga, is a small SUV launched in a hurry. The intention to seize the small SUV market is too obvious, and consumers in the Chinese market can see through it at a glance. This is just a Nissan Qashqai's rebranded car, and consumers do not need a channel, price, and product that is not better than Nissan's "French Nissan". Faced with Renault, a well-known petty bourgeois brand in France, in the absence of obvious price advantages and a serious lack of visibility, the Renault brand suffered a fiasco.
Another reason that cannot be ignored is that Dongfeng Renault has not really twisted China and France into a single rope on the basis of the consistent double-signature system of Chinese joint venture car companies, but has formed a situation of infighting. The right to speak between China and France is actually inconsistent. The French side uses Fulan as the president, and Fulan is actually one of the top executives of Renault. However, the Chinese executive president is only a middle-level cadre in the Dongfeng system, with Dongfeng on top. The top of the group. Once the French side does not compromise with the double-signature system, China will be unable to do anything, because Fulan is basically the final judgment of the French side, and there is no room for compromise. Every Chinese executive who is constantly changing is unable to open this knot, and can only end with exodus, which is doomed to the dissolution of Dongfeng Renault.
The remaining three brands, including Peugeot, Citroen, and DS, once belonged to the PSA Group. Today they all belong to the Stellattis Group. They are still one family and are the main symbols of French cars in China.
The first reason is the market environment. As mentioned above, French cars have also achieved good market performance in China. Among them, Citroen's Beverly, it has undoubtedly occupied the leading position in the development of Chinese cars in the 1990s. Compared with other joint venture brands, Citroen was already a lot ahead.
However, with the passage of time, the two major markets for the A-class and B-class cars in the Chinese market in the 21st century began to develop. It was at this time that the familiar Volkswagen Passat and the Japanese Three Musketeers rose rapidly. At that time, the French brand seemed to be still in the joy of victory brought by Beverly, and did not speed up the pace to continue to make efforts in the A-level and B-level markets. This was the first development opportunity that the French brand missed.
In 2012, the Chinese market set off a wave of SUV boom. Japanese SUVs, German SUVs, and American SUVs quickly occupied the pit, while the response of French brands always seemed to be slow, and they did not make any achievements in this boom. It was not until the SUV market began to become saturated. Due to the late launch of French brands, the blue ocean has turned into a red ocean, causing the sales of SUV models such as 4008 and 5008 to remain unsatisfactory.
At this point, French cars are far inferior to German cars. German brands are very good at studying the needs of the Chinese market, such as launching long-wheelbase models, rushing to attack the B-segment car market, etc. These series of measures have allowed German The brand is developing rapidly in the domestic market.
In fact, it is not only French cars. Before 2016, Korean cars and American cars have also achieved great success. They will also decline in the next few years, but success and market failure are also the market. In 2016, the market structure took place. Great changes. First of all, with the blessing of new generation products and technologies, Japanese cars have greatly increased their sales, word of mouth and market recognition, regaining their previously lost market share, and achieving a surpass.
On the other hand, the rise of independent brands, both in terms of product strength and product scale, have seized a portion of the French car market share. French cars not only have to face the strong Japanese and German brands and the sudden emergence of independent brands, but also face the price drop of other joint venture brands and even luxury brands.
Faced with this situation, presumably the French also want to make a difference in high-end brands, and thus introduced the DS brand. Facts have proved that DS's product form and reputation cannot satisfy Chinese consumers. In this case, failure will be a failure. Doomed. In the embarrassing competition, the originally not strong French car naturally became a victim.
When it comes to product strength and competitiveness, French cars have never stepped on the demand and cognition of mainstream consumers from beginning to end. The first is the product. I also mentioned earlier that the most popular model in the Chinese market in the past 10 years is the SUV, and the French car has fallen behind in the layout of the SUV. The second is technically. For example, for German cars, we can blurt out TSI+DSG, laser welding cavity wax injection and so on. When it comes to Japanese cars, it means excellent engine thermal efficiency and mature hybrid power system.
But when it comes to French cars, it seems that there are no real technical highlights. In fact, French cars are not without bright spots. They still have core competitiveness. For example, the world's top passenger car diesel engine technology is unfortunately missed by China. There is also the advantage of handling and chassis tuning, but the main demands of Chinese consumers are not here. With the improvement of the global vehicle research and development technology, the chassis and handling performance of other manufacturers are no worse than French cars, even in terms of comfort. Perform better.
In addition, it seems that I really can’t think of any technical highlights of French cars, and even the technical premiums of independent brands can’t match. The root cause behind this is that French cars have never really gone to the world. It is still deeply ingrained. The models and technologies are all oriented in France and exported to the world, which naturally leads to inaccuracy.
Summary: In the history of China's automobile industry, such as mainstream aesthetics, large-space cars, humanized cockpits, luxury brand cars, SUVs, hybrid systems, and pure electric vehicles, these mainstream consumers are most concerned about, the French brands can It is said to be a perfect avoidance, coupled with the shrinking market, brand service and value preservation rate have worsened, consumers have no confidence to choose a French car. So is there a way out for French cars in the future? Is it completely out of play in China? In fact, we can't draw conclusions so arbitrarily. For a legal brand in a difficult period, if we can't come up with a revolutionary change strategy and the determination to fight back, it can be said that it is even more difficult to restore the defeat.
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