Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën

Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën,[2] formerly Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën Automobile Co., Ltd. (DPCA) from 1992 to 2021, is an equally owned Chinese joint venture between the automobile manufacturers Dongfeng Motor Corporation and Stellantis (known as PSA Peugeot Citroën at the time of the formation of the joint venture). Based in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province, it manufactures Peugeot and Citroën models for sale in China.[2]

Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën
FormerlyDongfeng Peugeot-Citroën Automobile Co., Ltd. (1992–2021)
TypeJoint venture
IndustryAutomotive
Founded1992 (1992)
Headquarters
Wuhan
,
China
Area served
Mainland China
ProductsAutomobiles
Brands
RevenueDecrease CN¥47.397 billion (2016)
Decrease CN¥01.827 billion (2016)
Total assetsDecrease CN¥38.881 billion (2016)
Total equityIncrease CN¥14.110 billion (2016)
Owners
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese神龙汽车有限公司
Traditional Chinese神龍汽車有限公司
Literal meaningDivine Dragon Automobile Limited Company
Dongfeng Citroën
Simplified Chinese东风雪铁龙
Traditional Chinese東風雪鐵龍
Literal meaningEast Wind - Citroën
Dongfeng Peugeot
Simplified Chinese东风标致
Traditional Chinese東風標致
Literal meaningEast Wind - Peugeot
Websitedpca.com.cn
Footnotes / references
figures obtained from Dongfeng Motor Group's annual report; DPCA's annual report was not disclosed[1]

Its cars are well liked by consumers, and the Citroën brand received one of the highest scores in a 2014 customer satisfaction survey done by JD Power in China.[3]

Not all Stellantis products sold in China were sold or manufactured by its joint venture with Dongfeng; DS Automobiles models were once the domain of the former Changan PSA joint venture with Changan Automobile.[4]

DPCA also produces Dongfeng Fengshen-branded consumer vehicles in the same factories that manufacture the Stellantis models these private label cars are based on.[5]

History

The Peugeot and Citroën brands separately tried to enter the China market in the 1980s. Citroën sold the CX model in 1984, and it even appeared in a Chinese film.[6][7] At the time, Citroën was competing with Volkswagen for the "large car" contract with SAIC Motor, and Volkswagen won, investing $2 Billion in the China market from 1984 to 1998.[8] Peugeot also saw lackluster results.[9] In 1985, it established a joint venture with the government of Guangzhou, Guangzhou Peugeot Automobile Company,[9] which built the Peugeot 505 and was defunct by 1997.[2]

1984 Citroën CX in Beijing
1994 Citroën ZX Fukang models for sale - made by truck manufacturer Second Automobile Works (第二汽车制造厂) through Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën joint venture
2007 Citroën C-Triomphe Luoyang, Henan province, China
2018 Citroën C5 Aircross

The current Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën comes from a second chance at market entrance for Citroën provided by 'Second Auto Works' (Dongfeng), in 1992.[10] Realizing it lacked a consumer product line, state-owned vehicle maker Dongfeng Motor Corporation initially approached Toyota in the hopes of establishing a joint venture but was rebuffed leading to the same offer being afforded Citroën.[11] Talks were reported to have taken place in Paris as early as the last 1980s with agreement reached in 1990.[12] However, the project was delayed by two years due to French government resistance following the Tiananmen Square massacre, and it only came off the ground in 1992.[11] Initially referred to as Dongfeng Citroën Automobile Company (DCAC), this joint venture company situated itself in Wuhan.[12] Its first product was a hatchback built from semi-complete knock-down kits, the ZX Fukang,[2] and by 1996 production capacity had reached 150,000 units/year with a second offering,[13] the Fukang 988 sedan, being added in 1998.[2] The project may not have seen great success due to a limited product line and delays from the beginning.[11] In addition, early reliance on Shanghai's industrial base (and with it stretched supply chains) for locally sourced parts may have proved a hindrance; at the very least to the development of Wuhan's own industrial cluster.[12] As of 1997, DCAC counted amount its component suppliers 80% more Shanghai firms than those based in Wuhan, and in the early 2000s easily 50% of locally sourced parts continued to come from Shanghai.[12]

In 2002, the first Peugeot-branded product was introduced and the JV was renamed Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën Automobile (DPCA).[2] That same year saw the joint venture held with equal equity between its French and Chinese parents,[12] but it wasn't until 2004 that Chinese and French banks relaxed their grip on the firm and true 50% ownership stakes were each taken by Dongfeng and PSA Peugeot Citroën.[2]

While most current offerings are versions of cars available in other markets, some vehicles have been tailored to better suit local demand such as changing hatchbacks to three-box designs.[14] At least one car, sold under the name Citroën C2,[2] appears to have been reworked extensively; confusingly the Chinese version C2 seems to have been a rebadged Peugeot model—not the "actual" Citroën C2.

Operations

Production bases and facilities

As of 2010, the joint venture has three production bases—all in Hubei province.[2] A fourth was set to become operational c. 2016 in Chengdu, Sichuan province, increasing production capacity by 300,000 units per year.[15] With the completion of this factory, total yearly production capacity will approach one million whole vehicles.[5]

A Xiangyang production base makes engines with capacity in excess of one million, yearly, and has been operational since 1996.[5]

Stellantis has two facilities in Shanghai—an R&D center (the China Tech Center) and a design center.[16]

As of 2023, only one production plant is still in operation in Wuhan (Plant 3), with Plant 1 being converted to commercial development and Plant 2 being sold to Dongfeng-Honda for a new electric vehicle plant. The Chengdu plant is also in operation.

Dealer network

Its dealer network boasts nearly 300 Citroën shops in over 200 Chinese cities and about 170[16] Peugeot showrooms (other sales and service stores that carry and cater to Peugeots do exist).[2] As of 2010, imported models are also sold although by a separate, wholly PSA-owned subsidiary, Peugeot Citroën (China) Automotive Trade Co Ltd.[2] It's possible the situation has changed as of 2015 since in that year Groupe PSA signed an agreement with Dongfeng to sell some imports.[17]

Ownership

Ownership of the joint venture has evolved since its establishment in 1992. In 2000, ownership was: 31%, Dongfeng Motor Corporation; 39%, Chinese banks; 26.9%, PSA Peugeot Citroën; 3.1%, international banks. In 2002, both Dongfeng and PSA Peugeot Citroën took equal 32% shares, and by 2004 they had bought out the remaining equity stakes held by banks resulting in each vehicle-maker holding 50% ownership of the joint venture.[2] After the IPO, the stake held by Dongfeng Motor Corporation was transferred to Dongfeng Motor Group.

In a rare move for the industry, 2014 saw Dongfeng Motor Group take a 14% stake in the then-ailing PSA Peugeot Citroën, a parent company of DPCA.[18]

Sales figures
Year Vehicle sales
1996 7,200
1997 28,000
1998 33,400[19]
1999 44,300[19]
2000 52,000[19]
2001 53,200[19]
2002 85,100[19]
2003 103,100[19]
2004 89,100[20][19]
2005 140,400[20][19]
2006 201,318[20]
2007 207,500[20]
2008 189,162[20]
2009 272,000[20]
2010 376,000[20]
2011 404,437[5]
2012 436,500[note 1]
2013 550,500[note 1]
2014 734,000[note 1]
2015 719,000[5]

Recent products

Footnote
  1. 2012-2014 sales figures may conflate DPCA figures with those of PSA's other China JV, Changan PSA, which had a 200,000 units/year production capacity as of 2015. "PSA Peugeot Citroën in China (a PSA Press Kit)". groupe-psa.com. PSA Peugeot Citroën. April 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-06-14. Retrieved 2017-04-09.

References
  1. "2016 Annual Report" (PDF). Dongfeng Motor Group. 27 April 2017. pp. 154–155. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  2. China Division: PSA Peugeot Citroën in China; NEWS KIT (PDF), PSA Peugeot Citroën, April 2010, archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-07
  3. "Dongfeng Citroen tie for top score in China satisfaction survey". Automotive News. 2014-07-18. Retrieved 2014-11-10. Dongfeng Citroen received the highest numerical score in a tie among auto manufacturers in mass market of the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2014 China Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) StudySM.
  4. "UPDATE 1-PSA JV says on schedule to sell DS cars in China". reuters.com. Thomson Reuters. 16 February 2012.
  5. "PSA Peugeot Citroën in China (a PSA Press Kit)". groupe-psa.com. PSA Peugeot Citroën. April 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-06-14. Retrieved 2017-04-09.
  6. "Fei cui ma jiang, 1987 Movie". Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  7. Guo Yu Gang (4 July 2016). "French Car in China" (in Chinese). The Confucius Institute. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  8. Webb, Alysha (20 February 2006). "A whole new world: The rise, fall and rebound of Europe's carmakers in China". Automotive News Europe. Crain Communications. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  9. Fernandez, Juan Antonio; Liu, Shengjun (2007), China CEO: a case guide for business leaders in China, Singapore: John Wiley and Sons, p. 78, ISBN 978-0-470-82224-1
  10. Walter Arnold (November 2003). "The Japanese Automobile Industry in China". JPRI Working Paper No. 95. Japan Policy Research Institute. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  11. Komura, Chikara (2000). Hamada, Kōichi; Matsushita, Mitsuo; Kōmura, Chikara (eds.). "Comments on "Automobile Industrial Policy and WTO Agreements: China and Taiwan", presented by Cheng-Cherng Chen". Dreams and Dilemmas: Economic Friction and Dispute Resolution in the Asia-Pacific. Singapore: Seikei University Center for Asian and Pacific Studies, Japan: 167. ISBN 981-230-069-4.
  12. Thun, Eric (2006). Changing lanes in China: foreign direct investment, local government, and auto sector development (illustrated ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 174–175. ISBN 978-0-521-84382-9.
  13. "PSA Peugeot Citroën in China" (PDF). PSA Peugeot Citroën (News Kit). April 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 7, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  14. Åhman, Michael, ed. (1999). Bilkatalogen 2000 (Swedish edition of German Auto Katalog) (in Swedish). Solna, Sweden: Auto Motor & Sport Sverige AB. p. 149.
  15. Laurence Frost and Gilles Guillaume (2 July 2014). "UPDATE 1-Fourth Peugeot-Dongfeng China plant gets green light". reuters.com. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  16. Peugeot sees China driving its brand chinadaily.com.cn, 2010-10-29
  17. "Dongfeng-PSA to sell imported vehicles in 2015 in China". Automotive news. November 19, 2014. Retrieved 2014-12-07.
  18. "Peugeot signs Dongfeng deal, recovery hurdles remain". Reuters. 26 March 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  19. Dossier de presse PSA (1996-2005) (PDF) (in French). PSA Peugeot Citroën. March 2006. Archived 2011-08-07 at the Wayback Machine
  20. "Dossier de presse Chine - avril 2011" (PDF) (in French). PSA Peugeot Citroën. 18 April 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  21. "PSA launches Citroën C3-XR, 4th Chinese-built SUV". Automotive News. November 25, 2014. Retrieved 2014-12-06.
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