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According to data disclosed by Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., DPCA sold 80345 vehicles in 2023, down 35.81% from the same period last year, including 45780 Dongfeng Peugeot, 28180 Dongfeng Citroen and 6385 Dongfeng Fukang. It is understood that DPCA is the largest declining joint venture brand of Dongfeng Motor Co., with Dongfeng Nissan's annual sales down 21.53% and Dongfeng Honda down 8.54%.

Retail sales data show that the best-selling model of Dongfeng Peugeot brand is Peugeot 408, with 19865 vehicles, and it is also the only model with more than 10,000 sales, with Peugeot 4008 and Peugeot 508L having 7066 and 5120 respectively. Citroen also has only one model, with Versailles selling 20090 C5Xs and less than 5000 C6 and C5 AIRCROSS.

With the vigorous development of China's new energy vehicle industry, the major brands have entered the cruel "knockout" stage, and it is becoming more and more difficult for the late DPCA to catch up. In addition, under the background of volume price, volume configuration and volume brand, the marginal joint venture car companies with low sales volume are hit harder and have a deeper impact. Although DPCA implemented a rare promotion in the industry in March 2023, it did not have an obvious stimulating effect on sales. For the whole of 2023, DPCA sold 80300 vehicles, down 35.81% from the same period last year, which is the second time its sales have fallen below 100000 since 2021, only 51.8% from the 155000 set at the beginning of the year.

With the withdrawal of Guangzhou Auto Fick, DPCA has become the only joint venture of Stellantis Group in China. Data show that DPCA was founded in May 1992, jointly funded by Dongfeng Motor Group and Peugeot Citroen Group. As the first joint venture to enter the Chinese market, DPCA has mass-produced household-known models such as Fukang, and has reached an annual sales peak of 700000 vehicles, making it a popular car brand. However, at the same time when DPCA entered the highlight moment, the problems of product quality, technology iteration, business philosophy and even corruption were also exposed. coupled with the slow iteration of product updates and other reasons, DPCA gradually faded out of the market. Sales have declined for four consecutive years since 2016.

French cars do not have a strong sense of existence in the domestic market, especially after Renault delisting, and after the Jeep brand of the same group focuses on imports, it aggravates the sense of crisis to some extent, how will it further move towards positive operation?

In February 2023, DPCA announced the full promotion of electrification. According to the plan, in the future, China and France will support the diversification of technology sources, adopt global advanced electric technology, promote the electric transformation of DPCA, and fully support DPCA to accelerate the introduction of pure electric goods from 2023. In the next five years, DPCA will launch 9 new models and a number of modified models, 8 of which are new energy models. It is reported that the new model will be developed based on the electric mixing platform eHMIA, which can provide three kinds of power modes: HEV, PHEV and BEV, covering a variety of body forms of cars, SUV and MPV.

In October 2023, Dongfeng Group disclosed the transaction notice that Dongfeng Group and DMC signed an "asset transfer agreement" to purchase specific land use rights, buildings and structures in Wuhan and Xiangyang for 1.714 billion yuan. At the same time, the two sides reached a leasing arrangement under which Dongfeng Group will lease the target assets to DPCA for a term of 10 years. It is reported that the target asset is mainly the third plant of DPCA in Wuhan, which has been mainly used to produce existing Peugeot and Citroen passenger cars as well as Fukang models.

In the announcement, Dongfeng Group and Stellantis Group, the foreign shareholder of DPCA, reiterated that the governance model of DPCA remains unchanged, the share ratio of China and France remains unchanged, and the shareholders of China and France will continue to implement the strategic cooperation agreement signed in 2019 and continue to support the sustainable development of DPCA.

Whether DPCA can successfully promote the electrification process in the future depends to a large extent on the determination and practical support of Dongfeng Group and French shareholders.

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