Peugeot Citroen's Strategy for Powertrain Integration in China

Marketing reform, channel integration, and brand remodeling, PSA is chasing the leader in China at its own pace. This year, the European debt crisis made France's top carmaker Peugeot Citroën (hereinafter referred to as PSA injury, loss and contraction become the focus of foreign media coverage. Recently, foreign media reported that the group’s losses in the first half of this year were as high as 819 million euros, compared with 806 million euros in the same period last year.On July 12, PSA announced that it will close down a French factory in 2014 and launch 8,000 people in France. The layoff plan, which is for a large-scale regional company whose core business is highly dependent on Europe, is savoring the bitter fruit of “all eggs in one basket”.

The tragic reality once again warns PSA that from a global competitive landscape, single regional automakers are inevitably gloomy. PSA must be free from stubborn French thinking and look beyond Europe to become a truly global company.

In fact, after the global economic crisis in 2008, PSA has begun to discover Oriental Beauty. What everyone was impressed with was that at the press conference held on the previous day at the Shanghai Auto Show last year, PSA Group CEO Valin's passionate speech made a resounding call for taking 8% of the market share in China in 2015. This was followed by its announcement of a joint venture with Changan and announced the company’s investment commitment of 8.4 billion in the first quarter. This set off a wave of discussion in the industry: Did the French Lion finally awaken in China?

From the successive introduction of new products such as the 3008SUV, the marketing reforms of our partner Shenlong, the integration of import and domestic channels, and the strategy of the turbocharged engine of the Beacon, from these actions, as a laggard, we really want to catch up in the Chinese market. Late sets. Although there is not everyone's expectation of courage and speed, but this is the French-style efficiency, a cup of coffee, sun exposure plus a fake and then talk about something else.

Global Strategy, China Needs to be Deployed Separately If PSA horizontally compares the weights of some other foreign parties to China, it will understand that their efforts are still insufficient.

The process of globalization of PSA was promoted. This is the development idea that the Group’s president, Valin, had when he took office. In October 2009, PSA introduced an investment plan for the next three years. By achieving what this outsider calls the PSA Napoleon plan, it aims to ensure that before 2012, 45% of the Group's revenue comes from the markets of China, Latin America and Russia.

The most important markets for the PSA Group are Europe, China, Latin America and Russia. We hope to increase the market share of 3%-6% in the last three regions of the PSA to 10%. In 2009, sales outside the PSA Europe accounted for global sales. About 33% of the proportion was increased to 39% in the first half of 2011. The number of the Vallan plans to increase again to 50% by 2015.

From the point of view of PSA strategic considerations, it has discovered and recognized the potential of emerging markets such as the East and Latin America, which is the first step in the beginning. However, the reporter noted that PSA’s understanding and consideration of “China” is still packaged in the emerging countries in Asia as a whole, that is, it has not raised “China” to a market that can be deployed separately.

This can also be seen in its institutional setting. Unlike other foreign-funded enterprises, China is basically in the form of investment companies such as Toyota (China) Nissan (China) and PSA institutions in the form of Asia that has just been upgraded in the past two years. The Operation Department, as the name implies, does not fully serve China. According to reports, the PSA Asia Operations Division headquartered in Shanghai has jurisdiction over China, India, Japan, and South Korea, except that the PSA's operations in Japan and South Korea are almost negligible. The investment plan in India has not been fully launched yet. Therefore, the agency’s business focus is currently in China.

In an interview with Green Lantern, Varan mentioned that PSA China now employs 17,000 people, which means that it accounts for about 10% of the group's total global workforce. In 2008, PSA Peugeot Citroen set up its first R&D center outside Europe. In order to further express my ambition for China's strategy, Oliver, a member of the Executive Committee, was appointed as the President of the Asian Operations Department and is based in Shanghai.

In the opinion of Walan, this is enough to show that PSA attaches great importance to China. Of course, compared with the past oneself. We must know that the high-growth joint ventures in China in recent years have not only made large investments in strategic aspects such as product launching and technology introduction, but also included the green light for the Chinese market in the details of some emergencies. . When Japan's global earthquake caused a shortage of parts and components that caused vehicles to face a supply disruption, Nissan gave orders at the earliest possible speed: Global resources were allocated to ensure the Chinese market. A rainstorm in Beijing on July 21 triggered an emergency supply of imported spare parts. BMW also expressed its attitude: an emergency passage for China to open up spare parts.

If PSA compares the weight of some other foreign parties to China, it will understand that their efforts are still insufficient.

According to the plan of the betting powertrain, Dongfeng Citroen will launch six new EPECEB three-engine, two new gearboxes, and STT micro-mixing technology in China before 2015."



In China, PSA still maintains the pace of orderly progress of various changes. In 2010, PSA Peugeot Citroen promised to start production of 12 new models in the next five years. Since then, the 12 new models in the past five years have almost become the slogans that Dongfeng Peugeot and Dongfeng Citroen all have to mention when they deal with media.

In April 2010, the Peugeot brand ushered in China's bid change. At that time, because of Icelandic volcanic ash and missed that year's Peugeot brand president of the Beijing auto show Langbo Wen, an interview with reporters in the form of transoceanic telephone, Peugeot brand in China to seek the core position, and announced that the future will certainly introduce SUV products.

July 10, 2011, Dongfeng Peugeot finally ushered in the first mid-to-high-end car 508 dealers also finally looked forward to a considerable source of profit. This car is Peugeot's first product to integrate into Chinese consumer demand. At the Paris Motor Show in 2010, Rambourne talked about the sales prospects of 508. According to Peugeot's plan, in 2012, the 508 production plan will reach 200,000 units. The market will account for about 65,000 vehicles, that is, the Chinese market will bear about one-third of the 508 global sales.

At the end of this year, Dongfeng Peugeot will usher in its first domestic SUV3008 Dongfeng Citroen will also bring a new mid-range car C4L in the second half of the year.

With T and PSA China is advancing its powertrain upgrade strategy to be announced at the Chengdu Auto Show. This year's Beijing Auto Show, a highlight of PSA Peugeot Citroen is the special display of the EP series engine developed in cooperation with BMW. Pan Jianian, general manager of the Dongfeng Citroen brand, said that the full upgrade of power is the focus of the future. According to the plan, before 2015, Dongfeng Citroen will launch six new EPECEB three series engines, two new transmissions, and STT micro-mixing technology in China.

Among them, the EP engine will be mounted on the C4L and 3008 respectively.

In addition, PSA has begun to take the "turbocharged" this car, seems to be getting rid of the technology left behind for many years, "the impression. Dongfeng Peugeot 408 Forum, for the netizen criticized its gearbox is still lagging behind the 4 speed. However, without waiting for a long time, in October of this year, the 408 gearbox will be upgraded to 6-speed, and the engine will also be replaced with a 1.6-liter naturally aspirated model.

In recent years, the turbocharger technology has become popular in the Chinese market, and PSA is well-understood and it is possible to wait and see if it is possible to use this powertrain upgrade strategy to create a beautiful turnaround. After all, even recruits such as GAC Fiat, the first product to enter the market are all matching turbocharged engines. It can be seen that “T followers are quite a few, and PSA can’t catch up with a late set.

Re-combine the two brands Dongfeng Peugeot and Dongfeng Citroen to reduce internal friction, and jointly build the concept of a legal vehicle, looking for synergy

In addition to its products and technologies, PSA began to reorganize its two brand positioning in China as well as its weak channels for years. This year, Shenlong conducted a series of marketing agency reforms and made some suggestions on the two brands, Dongfeng Peugeot and Dongfeng Citroen. Even though many people in the industry still believe that this change is not large enough.

The general manager of the Dongfeng Citroen brand, Pan Jianian, proposed a new idea after the reform – the two brands should reduce their internal friction and jointly create the concept of a legal vehicle, which is to find the “synergy” effect.

In this regard, Dongfeng Peugeot brand general manager Lu Haitao also agreed that this "cooperative" concept is also permeated into the Dongfeng Peugeot brand's communication strategy. It is believed that in the future, Dongfeng Peugeot should also reflect the "synergy" effect in the processing of marketing resources so as to increase the utilization efficiency of input funds. Lu Haitao said that in the past, the brand was too fragmented in its marketing resources, all focused on a certain product, and did not establish the overall perception of the entire Peugeot family and brand. Once the product was withdrawn from the market, all the promotional costs that were put on the car were also buried. Therefore, this year, the East Standard gathers marketing resources, and the way in which the boxing team plays is also a major direction of change.

In addition, at the same time, we also need to differentiate the two brands. When we interacted with Sun Xiaodong, director of product planning and market strategy for PSA Asia Operations, we said that in the future, Peugeot brand emphasizes more on personality and sports, while Citroen stands out. Product comfort is the main factor, and it can be understood that PSA is more focused and refined for the Peugeot brand's future audience, while Citroen is geared towards mass.

Peugeot also advocates design and personality in France. This is more uniform, and it is worth noting that Citroen's brand image in China is not the same as in Europe.

More importantly, such a differentiated slogan is proposed to be easy. How the future is reflected in the products and channel terminals is the key.