Carmaker Stellantis may stop producing cars in China altogether

Automaker Stellantis may stop producing cars in China altogether. According to a number of media reports, including Interface News, Stellantis Group CEO Carlos Tavares said at the Paris Motor Show on October 17, local time, that Stellantis Group is considering adopting an "asset-light" model for brands such as Peugeot and Citroen in the Chinese market. " model. The news was initially reported by a number of automotive media outlets under the headline "Stellantis may stop producing cars in China altogether", while Stellantis China had "no comment" on the future production stoppage of its Chinese plants. There was no response to the rumors on Stellantis Group's public website this evening.

Speaking to the press at the Paris Motor Show, Tang Wei-Shi said, "If we move forward with the strategy we're taking now, then we don't need a factory in China," adding that Stellantis could export cars made in its European and American factories to the Chinese market, just like Jeep and Alfa Romeo.

In response to the report that Stellantis Group CEO Tang Weishi "does not need to set up a factory in China", Stellantis officially responded to the media saying: "No comment.

With the defeat of GAC Ficker in China, Stellantis Group has only one joint venture brand in China, Shen Long Motors. It should be noted that earlier this year, Tang Weishi used the same wording as above to describe Stellantis Group's decision to suspend production of Jeep in China, which may not rule out the possibility of Peugeot and Citroen also facing the same withdrawal from the Chinese market, as Jeep has done.

On July 18 of this year, Stellantis Group announced that Stellantis would adopt an "asset-light" approach to the development of the Jeep brand in China due to a lack of progress in its plans to take a majority stake in the Guangzhou Automobile Group joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group, and to negotiate the termination of the local Jeep joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group. Stellantis Group announced that Stellantis will adopt an "asset-light" approach to the Jeep brand in China and negotiate with GAC to terminate the local joint venture. On the same day, GAC Group issued a response: "GAC Ficker has continued to lose money in recent years and has been unable to resume normal production and operation since February this year, GAC Group and Stellantis are negotiating an orderly termination of the joint venture and will properly handle matters related to the joint venture in accordance with the law. This also means that GAC Ficker is infinitely close to delisting, and once GAC Ficker's delisting is finalized, there will be no more Jeep domestic vehicles in the Chinese market, and thereafter new Jeep vehicles will be introduced in the form of imports.

The Stellantis Group was established on January 16, 2021 by Peugeot Citroen Group (PSA) and Fiat Chrysler Group (FCA), with a 50:50 shareholding ratio. Many brands, at that time the new group became the fourth largest automotive group in the world after Volkswagen Group, Toyota Motor and Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi after its establishment.

In the Chinese market, Stellantis Group had two joint ventures, Shen Long Automobile and Guangzhou Auto Ficker. Among them, GAC Ficker has lost to China, and now Stellantis Group only has one joint venture left in the domestic market.

Ltd. was established on May 18, 1992, jointly funded by Dongfeng Motor and Peugeot Citroen Group.

In March this year, there were media reports that Stellantis Group would adjust its business in China, and the long-rumored "two rooms and one office" plan of Shen Long Motor was confirmed, where "two rooms" means that Dongfeng Peugeot will be led by the French side and Dongfeng Citroen will be led by the Chinese side. The "two rooms" refers to the fact that Dongfeng Peugeot will be led by the French side and Dongfeng Citroen will be led by the Chinese side; the "one room" refers to the sharing of existing public areas such as commodity planning, technology, quality and industrial production.

Subsequently, Dongfeng Motor Group announced that "the Group is currently negotiating with Stellantis Group on a new business arrangement for Citroen, but no legally binding agreement has been entered into for the new business arrangement". However, at that time, Stellantis Group did not mention the specific details of China Dragon Motor. However, not long after that, it was revealed that Dragon Motor had put the "two rooms, one hall" plan on hold because, considering the uncertainties of this year as well as the economic situation and the competitive situation of the industry, both Chinese and French shareholders wanted to first work together to make good sales and reputation before talking about the "two rooms, one hall" plan. " plan.

On May 7, in response to the news that Dragon Motor has suspended the "two rooms and a hall" plan, a Dragon Motor insider said that the shareholders are still in communication about the company's strategy; Stellantis said that it would not comment on the matter.

The current Chinese market has become the leader of the global electric vehicle market, in this context, more and more car companies began to increase the layout of the Chinese market, while the Citroen, Peugeot and DS brands operated by Stellantis Group in China have not become mainstream. As for the Stellantis Group to terminate the Jeep domestic plan, the automotive industry concerns that, or mainly related to the poor performance of Guangzhou Auto Ficker in the Chinese market.

According to the official website, the Jeep brand of GAC FIC is selling models including Grand Commander, Guide and Freelight three domestic models, of which the Guide is the sales pillar of the Jeep brand, with annual sales of 8,991 units in 2021, which are produced by the Guangzhou plant, and 6,791 units of Grand Commander, which are produced by the Changsha plant.

Data show that in 2016, GAC FIC sales grew 260% year-on-year to 179,900 units, a record peak, but since then sales have fallen year after year, 2018 - 2021, GAC FIC sales were 125,200 units, 73,900 units, 40,500 units, 20,100 units, four consecutive years of sales decline, and become the largest car company in GAC sales decline. After entering 2022, Jeep almost stopped, production and sales in March and May were 1, production and sales in April and June directly hanging "-".

On Oct. 17, China's Stellantis Group's joint venture in China, China's Dragon Motor, announced its cumulative sales for 2022, with sales of 100,600 units as of Oct. 16, 59.1 percent of its annual sales of 170,000 units in 2022, including a 73 percent increase in sales in September to 14,037 units, a 2022 monthly high. A new high.

According to the official website of Citroen, there are two brands of Dongfeng Peugeot and Dongfeng Citroen under Citroen, of which Dongfeng Peugeot's products on sale include Peugeot 408, Peugeot 508L, Peugeot 2008, Peugeot e2008, Peugeot 4008, Peugeot new 5008, etc.; Dongfeng Citroen's products on sale include Tian Yi C5 AIRCROSS, new C3-XR, Versailles C5X, C6, etc. C6 and other models.

From the point of view of the two major brands of China Dragon Motor, although there are many products under the two brands but not many models with good sales performance, in September this year, for example, the sales of Peugeot 408 under Dongfeng Peugeot were 2,147 units, Peugeot 4008 were 1008 units, and the rest of the models were only a few hundred units, and there were even only 8 units of Peugeot 4008 PHEV; Versailles under Dongfeng Citroen C5X sales of 5,809 units, the Tian Yi C5 AIRCROSS for 593 units, the rest less than 200 units, the same appeared Tian Yi C5 AIRCROSSPHEV only 1 unit.

Overall, the sales of Shenlong Motors have improved after entering 2022, but broken down into brand models, Shenlong Motors actually has only one explosive model, the Versailles C5X. According to statistics, from January to September 2022, the cumulative sales of Versailles C5X were 33,773 units. In short, most of the sales of China Dragon Automobile originated from one Versailles C5X, but it is relatively difficult for China Dragon Automobile to achieve the target of annual sales of 170,000 units by one explosive model of Versailles C5X alone, and at the same time, it is not easy for China Dragon Automobile to return to the main track in the highly competitive auto market.

In addition to these two brands, a spokesman for Opel, the German automaker owned by Stellantis, confirmed on Sept. 17 that his company has suspended its expansion plans in the Chinese market, saying, "Opel is currently putting its plans to enter the Chinese market on hold, taking into account the volumes required to achieve tangible results." Opel said the decision is in line with Stellantis' "asset-light" strategy in China.

Regarding the performance of the Chinese market, Tang Weishi has said bluntly, "We are disappointed with the Chinese market." In its latest report, AFP pointed out that rival Volkswagen's sales of more than 3 million vehicles a year in China are out of reach for Stellantis; while Bloomberg said that some older foreign car brands are becoming increasingly stressed as local car companies such as BYD and Geely launch a range of electric models, making it difficult for them to maintain their share and position in the Chinese market; and the auto industry is concerned that as Guangzhou Auto The auto industry is concerned that with the imminent changes at Guangzhou Auto and Dragon Motor, the future development of Stellantis Group in the Chinese market may also become more difficult.

On July 29, Stellantis Group announced its first-half results report. The report shows that the first half of this year, Stellantis Group (sign Citroen Group and Fiat Chrysler Group) fell 16.0% year-on-year to 3.019 million units, data show that Stellantis Group first half net revenue of 88 billion euros, up 17%; adjusted operating profit of 12.4 billion euros, up 44%; adjusted operating profit margin of 14.1%; net profit of 8 billion euros, an increase of 34%; for the Stellantis Group, Carlos Tavares expressed great satisfaction: "In a tough global market environment, we continue to promote the 'Dare Forward 2030 ' strategic plan, achieving excellent performance and implementing the Group's ambitious electrification strategy."

According to previous plans, in terms of product layout, Stellantis expects to achieve that by the end of 2030, all the Group's vehicles sold in Europe will be all-electric models and that 50% of the vehicles sold in the United States will be all-electric models; by 2030 the Group plans to launch more than 75 all-electric models and reach 5 million annual sales of all-electric vehicles worldwide.

In addition, today, Stellantis Group also announced that three new electrified models, Peugeot e-308, e-308 wagon and Peugeot e-408, will be produced at the Mulhouse plant in France. Peugeot announced that it will launch the "Peugeot INCEPTION" concept car in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the Stellantis Group plans to launch 28 new all-electric models by the end of 2024, with five plants in France producing 12 all-electric vehicles with a combined annual capacity of one million units.