●? After 28 years of vicissitudes, it is now walking with a heavy step
『Shenlong launched the Fukang automobile in the early days, and after the production was suspended, it is now upgraded to a new energy brand to start again』
Shenlong is a joint venture between Dongfeng Automobile and PSA Group, which was established in 1992, and owns the two major brands of Dongfeng Peugeot and Dongfeng Citro?n. As a pioneer that joined the Chinese market at an early stage, Shenlong has created excellent results, whether it's the former Fukang or the later Peugeot 408, etc., all of which are household names. Chen Bin also mentioned that Dragon has now 6 million customers base, which is a large volume. 28 years of hard work, 6 million customer base, coupled with a hundred years of French brand heritage, a good hand of cards of the Dragon in recent years, but the development of the encountered a "Waterloo". And the same is a French brand of Renault in this year's withdrawal from the Chinese market, also let the market and the industry for Peugeot and Citro?n, the two big French brands have some confidence. Back in 2015, when the Dragon car can be said to be the scenery, with reference to the licensing / insurance volume data, its sales that year was close to 700,000 units. And before that, it was a continuous growth for many years. But by 2016, Shenlong's sales slumped to 610,000 units, after which it began to fall off a cliff, and by 2019 it was selling just 130,000 units for the year.『Shenlong Automobile 2019 announced the yuan plan』
In the face of the predicament, Shenlong Automobile in fact in 2019 has begun to take action, in September of the same year announced the "yuan" plan: in 2019, the company's breakeven point will be reduced to less than 180,000 units, and in 2020-2021, it will further decline to less than 150,000 units, and in 2020-2021, it will further decline to less than 150,000 units. In 2019, the company's break-even point fell to below 180,000 units, and in 2020-2021, it further fell to below 150,000 units, and gradually increased its sales to the level of 250,000 units, and in 2022-2025, it will intensively launch new products, so that its sales will reach the level of 400,000 units. Overall, the organization of Shenlong Auto will be scaled down from 700,000 units to 300,000 units. So we've seen Shenlong restructure some of its factories and downsize its workforce, and the 4S stores of Dongfeng Peugeot and Dongfeng Citroen in some regions have begun to merge, in anticipation of further cost reductions through a more efficient model.'Peugeot and Citroen brands' insurance volume data for January-September this year'
But with the arrival of the epidemic, it has added to the already poor situation of Dragon. Dongfeng Group shares released an announcement showing that in the first half of 2020, after the consolidated financial results of Shenlong Automobile and Dongfeng Peugeot Citro?n Sales Company's revenue was 386 million euros, a year-on-year decrease of 58%; net loss of 168 million euros, a year-on-year decrease of 48.3%. As for sales, the Dongfeng Motor Group production and sales report shows that the first half of the Dragon car sales of only 23,237 units, very dismal. For the Dragon car, indeed, has reached the point of need to backwater.●? Shenlong this conference in the end said what?
On September 18, Shenlong Motor announced that the company's former executive vice president and party secretary Chen Bin was formally promoted to general manager. As an "old Dongfeng people" Chen Bin in the beginning of September just served as executive vice president of Shenlong Automobile Company Limited, party secretary, this "transfer" can be said to be the speed of God. There is no doubt that at this time he is the "fire-fighting captain" of Shenlong Automobile. As mentioned above, the performance of the Dragon car this year is still dismal, and there is still a long way to go before the revival. The release of the "yuan +" plan, compared to the "yuan" plan is a new addition to the "service" this big category, but also prompted the Dragon car to achieve a more perfect system construction. Specifically, at the product level, the products sold under the Shenlong Automobile will realize the comprehensive enhancement of the value, such as reversing camera, LED headlights, intelligent human-machine system, 12.3-inch LCD instrumentation, panoramic sunroof, touch screen, electronic gear lever and a series of configurations enriched to all levels of the models, to achieve the main sales models "increase the price of the additional equipment not to increase! "The company's main product is a new product, which is a new product for the market. Product launch, according to the plan, the next five years, Shenlong Automobile will work with Dongfeng Citroen and Dongfeng Peugeot to launch 14 new models. Among them, Dongfeng Peugeot will implement the 1+N new product strategy to realize the value enhancement of the models on sale and the introduction of new models, to ensure that there is at least one brand new model on the market every year, and to launch a variety of personalized customized and exclusive version of the model. At the same time, Dongfeng Peugeot has introduced the CMP platform and the new generation 2008/e2008 based on this platform, which together with the EMP2 platform, will realize the platformization of all Dongfeng Peugeot's products. At the same time, PSA Group's plug-in hybrid and four-wheel drive and other latest technologies have also taken the lead in introducing the Chinese market, and has been applied to the first 4008?PHEV?4WD model with "three-engine four-wheel drive" technology, in addition, Dongfeng Peugeot 508L?PHEV will be listed by the end of the year, the new 4008/5008, In addition, Dongfeng Peugeot 508L PHEV will be launched at the end of the year, the new 4008/5008, and Dongfeng Citroen's internal code name "E43" will also be launched in 2021. Among them, Citro?n E43 will adopt a new design language, and as a global model sold in more than 20 countries and regions around the world. In the field of new energy, Dongfeng Peugeot will continue to fully promote the new energy strategy of Move?to?Electric. Starting from 2020, all new models will be synchronized with both fuel and new energy versions. By 2023, all of its products will offer both fuel and new energy versions; by 2025, full electrification will be achieved. In terms of intelligent network connection, it provides the functions of the third-generation i-cockpit only cockpit, CVMP platform (intelligent network connection platform developed by PSA Group and Huawei*** together), and OTA upgrade of the whole vehicle. In terms of vehicle information security, Shenlong Automobile will strengthen the cloud and vehicle end to build a firewall to protect the customer's car safety. In terms of power, further introduction of 8-speed automatic transmission and electronic shift lever. In addition, Dragon will also fully launch the next generation of powertrain research and development that includes MHEV light hybrid, pure electric, and national seven power, which is at the leading level of the industry in terms of performance. The chassis will also broaden the application of suspension models equipped with PHC adaptive stabilization system. In addition, Shenlong Automobile will also fully import the EVA platform architecture, which is compatible with fuel and new energy, as well as support for L3/L4 level conditional automatic driving functions, to meet the energy saving and environmental protection and network security requirements. In addition to making efforts at the product level, Shenlong Auto also highlighted a series of initiatives at the service level. In order to better serve customers and return the trust of 6 million customers. Dragon car launched the "five heart guardian action", including buy a car at ease, use the car peace of mind, service attentive, all the way with one heart, change the car happy five projects. "Buy a car at ease", Shenlong Auto has created a "7-1-5" innovative protection system in the automotive industry. That is, the commitment to purchase a car within 7 days, due to product quality problems, you can return the car without loss; dual-brand listed models, the brand lowered the official guide price or the official website issued a promotional policy, the brand will be within a year of the purchased car users to give the difference in price compensation; the new car to provide 5 years / 150,000 kilometers of vehicle warranty and free 6 times the basic maintenance or value-added exchange. "Car peace of mind", Dragon car will provide 3 years 5 times, 5 years 9 times maintenance package, and brand direct subsidy 70% discount; maintenance on the 790 commonly used spare parts prices comprehensively reduced; but also will provide 23,000 rescue vehicles 24-hour standby, 2 hours speed. "Service attentive", Dragon car commitment to routine maintenance 2 hours, overtime on the bill; 24-hour rescue 2 hours fast, overtime on the bill; vehicle replacement of the old parts displayed to the user, the failure to fulfill the bill-free service. "Happy to change the car", Dragon car value-added trade-in program, trade-in Dragon dual-brand models, the old car up to 15,000 yuan increase in value. "All the way to the heart" for more than 6 years of the first owner, a free gift of maintenance, this preferential policy will benefit 3.6 million owners. In addition, in order to allow customers to effectively enjoy the above services, Shenlong Automobile specifically set up a general manager of the complaint line, to achieve a 2-hour time limit to respond to customer requests. It is worth mentioning that, at the scene, in order to pay tribute to the front-line healthcare workers fighting the new coronavirus, Dragon Motor launched the protest heroes special car purchase privileges, including the national heroes dedication, that is, to the nationally recognized protest personnel and spouses to provide 20,000 yuan of gift money for the purchase of a car. As well as the Healthcare Heroes Offering, which provides 10,000 RMB car purchase gift for the medical personnel and their spouses in aid of Hubei, and the medical personnel and their spouses in Hubei.'PSA Group Chairman of the Board of Management? Tang Wei Shi』
The policy encoding, can not be separated from the capital first, PSA categorically will not give up the Chinese market. At the same time in Chen Bin new, PSA Group China business head Olivier also said for the first time, PSA Group decided in the fourth quarter of this year to give Shenlong 50 million euros of financial support, and is working with the Dongfeng Company to study in the next year to give Shenlong more resources and support. Meanwhile, in the next five years, Dongfeng Peugeot and Dongfeng Citroen will receive 8 million euros each year for brand building and customer experience improvement. The board of directors of Shenlong has also decided to supplement 150 million yuan of commercial expenses in the fourth quarter of this year to strengthen marketing in various regions. Chen Bin emphasized that at present, the highest priority of Dragon is to ensure that the enterprise by sufficient cash flow, and then to ensure that each month's sales performance.●? Dragon again, product, marketing and operational levels are indispensable
Even with the support of the above policy, Dragon still needs to carry out a comprehensive reform of the product, marketing and operational levels, in order to bring changes to the brand from the inside out.Shenlong needs to combine with China's market demand to launch a real volume of powerful products
For an automobile company, providing users with good products is fundamental. Dragonair will launch 14 models in five years, a number that sounds like a lot. But at the moment, what is missing is not a huge lineup of models, but the volume of products that can really compete with competitors. Compared to its competitors, the French car is distinctive enough. The fashionable design full of French romance can indeed attract passers-by to stop, but relying on personality to attract consumers will lead to a narrow audience, and finally into a dead end. In order to create explosive products, French brands need to learn more from German and Japanese brands - how to create products for the target market. In the product development level, the need to take more account of the mainstream needs of the Chinese market; in the product rhythm level, the need to take more initiative to grasp the direction of the Chinese market. "Special" is not a derogatory term in the mouth of the keyboard car god, but "in China, for China" tailor-made; "special" at the same time can not be shoddy and unlike, but to be The first thing you need to do is to understand what the Chinese market needs. Next, we have to see whether the "China-made, for the world" E43 (or Citroen C5) is really the taste of Chinese consumers; "1 + N" strategy in the customized version and the exclusive version of the sincerity; new energy vehicles can be intensively placed in the results. The new energy vehicle launch will be effective ...... Of course, the "perfect Chinese design and quality reference system" must not wait any longer.More pragmatic marketing strategy to impress users
Currently, we have entered an era of "fragrant wine is also afraid of deep alley", the automotive market is mixed, how to let more consumers to recognize their own for all manufacturers is a must. In addition to the French design gene, how to tell the French car brand story to the target users, is the two brands need to work together to work. At the same time, manufacturers also need to improve efficiency, more advantageous resources applied to the core models and core target groups. After gaining the attention of users, a more pragmatic and grounded marketing strategy is the most important thing. In this generation of Peugeot 4008 just listed in 2016, when brand sales are still at a high level, the price of this car is confidently set to 185,700 yuan to start. The same year, the RAV4 Rongfang and Honda CR-V and other power players, the starting price is in the 170,000 yuan range, Peugeot 4008's market response can be imagined. In subsequent revisions, the Peugeot 4008's starting price has also gradually dropped to less than 170,000, but the market has already been taken away by competitors.Strategic contraction, more efficient and simpler operating system
In addition, Shenlong also emphasized operational initiatives. These include, the shareholders' meeting increasing the authority of the general manager and executive vice president; reducing the number of professional committees and the number of executive committee members; clarifying the ministerial responsibility system and eliminating the departmental double-signature system; reducing the number of management levels; and optimizing the production capacity intensification.●Full text summary
Data source: National passenger car insurance volume
Table: Automobile House News Channel
The poor sales for consecutive years have made some people lose confidence in the French brand. According to the big data of the automobile house, the share of French cars in the domestic market can almost be described as "minuscule": 4.26% in 2014, and only 0.72% in 2019. For Peugeot and Citroen, there is no way back. Despite the difficulties, Dragon has realized the problem. It can be seen that this reform is not the same as all previous reforms, whether it is "back to the water", or "break the boat", behind these is actually two words: thorough. This also shows that the complexity of this reform is unprecedented, can not be accomplished overnight; and the market is changing rapidly, leaving little time for the Dragon. The contradictions and subtleties are a huge test for Chen Bin's team. This is no less than starting a business again. (Text/Automotive House? Chen Hao/Li Na)