To say that foreign automobile brands enter the China market, they basically choose joint ventures (Tesla is the only special case), which is largely related to China’s access policy for foreign automobile brands, and is also conducive to the rapid integration of foreign automobile brands into the China market.
Basically, countless car-making enterprises in China are involved. The national team’s FAW, Dongfeng, SAIC, GAC, BAIC and private enterprises are represented by Geely, and the foreign automobile brands that cooperate with these enterprises are basically relatively moist, such as Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda and VOLVO. However, the car companies that cooperate with these foreign brands are basically in a mess. They have not had a famous brand for 30 years. The typical representative is Dongfeng, which can be said to have achieved others and sacrificed themselves.
However, there is a car-making enterprise in China that has gone out of a different way, that is, Changan Automobile. Basically, the car brands that cooperate with Changan have a bleak ending, while Changan’s own cars and SUVs have already delivered good transcripts in the market.
Let’s count the foreign brands that have been "spoiled":
The first one-Suzuki
Suzuki Motor is one of the top ten car companies in the world. It is also an automobile brand that entered the domestic market very early.
In 1993, Changan and Suzuki set up a joint venture brand, which was once all the rage in China. Its products such as Alto and Swift were also phenomenal, especially Alto, which was a typical representative of mini-cars in the market at that time, and also the first stop for China people to start their dream of changing from Alto to Audi. However, Suzuki may have underestimated that the timeline of Alto’s change in China market is so rapid that it has not kept pace with the demand of China automobile market from mini-cars to SUVs and high-end cars.
In 2018, Suzuki officially announced its withdrawal from the China market.
The second one-DS
In 1955, DS made its debut at the Paris Motor Show, which caused a sensation with its innovation in design and technology. It was known as the "presidential car". From Charles de Gaulle to Hollande, DS was the best choice for French presidents.
In 2011, Changan Peugeot Citroen Automobile Co., Ltd. was established. In 2012, DS brand officially landed in China.
However, not many people know what it’s like to drive a presidential car, because DS has been selling poorly since it entered the China market. In 2018, it only sold 3,867 cars, and it also set a record of selling 8 cars a month. It’s really worse than the worst.
The bleak situation of DS is largely attributed to the lack of experience of DS team in how to sell high-end cars in China market.
The third-Mazda.
The current situation is much better than the above two, because Mazda not only cooperates with Changan, but also cooperates with FAW. At the same time, it also has products that are well-known in the China market, such as Ma6, Angkor Sela and CX5, and its unique technology and handling have considerable appeal in young Li =, but just like this, the annual sales volume of 190,000 is not enough to become the profit growth point of Changan, and Mazda, which is too fond of technology and handling, has not understood the demand of China consumers for vehicle stability and space.
The fourth-Volvo
VOLVO really wants to thank Li Shufu for the acquisition, otherwise Volvo’s fate in China is really hard to say.
Changan can enter into a joint venture with VOLVO because Ford held the VOLVO brand at that time and handed over some VOLVO models to Changan for production.
However, with Geely’s acquisition of VOLVO in 2010, whatever the cooperation between VOLVO and Changan, all this came to an abrupt end. And the VOLVO brand has never quietly grown up in the China market, and we have to admit that the performance of VOLVO today is basically impossible in Changan’s hands.
The fifth-Ford
Ford is the most classic case of Changan Automobile’s tireless destruction. "A hundred years of Ford was destroyed in Changan".
But the situation was not bad at first, because as a world-famous and mainstream automobile brand, Ford also enjoys a reputation, and the Ford Focus and Ford Fiesta, which were initially launched in cooperation with Changan, still have a considerable market.
However, problems such as engine oil leakage, broken axle, vehicle spontaneous combustion, tire peeling, gearbox failure, engine room water leakage, car odor and so on have greatly affected Ford’s reputation in the China market, and the sales of Ford cars have been declining in recent years.
The problems exposed by Suzuki, DS, Mazda, VOLVO and Ford during their cooperation in Chang ‘an basically cover the changes of China’s automobile market in different times and the changes of consumers’ cognition of vehicles. Cars should be large, cost-effective, stable in quality and beautiful. Only by grasping these items, it is difficult to sell well in the China market. However, these brands have not been caught, which can’t blame Changan to a great extent.
Changan’s own independent brand. With the problems in the decline of these brands mentioned above, and constantly learning from the lessons, Changan Automobile has built more than 75 hot-selling models of changan CS35 and CS75, and its technical strength has also advanced by leaps and bounds. I hope Changan Automobile will get better and better.
