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]
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[citation needed]) 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.
^ abc2012-2014 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
^"2016 Annual Report"(PDF). Dongfeng Motor Group. 27 April 2017. pp. 154–155. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
^"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.
^Guo Yu Gang (4 July 2016). "French Car in China" (in Chinese). The Confucius Institute. Archived from the original on 24 February 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
^Åhman, Michael, ed. (1999). Bilkatalogen 2000 (Swedish edition of German Auto Katalog) (in Swedish). Solna, Sweden: Auto Motor & Sport Sverige AB. p. 149.
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