How proud it was when it shouted "1.5 million vehicles sold annually", how tormented today's DPCA cars are.
In 2021, DPCA sold 100567 new cars, doubling from 2020. This is a good sign, but it cannot sweep away the "haze" above the head of the Dragon Car. In recent years, DPCA has been in a state of sharp decline. At the same time as the sales volume is not good, the utilization rate of 1.11 million vehicles accumulated over the years is getting lower and lower.
DPCA had to reverse the decline by "slimming down".
According to Caijing Auto, the second plant of DPCA in the Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone has been transferred to Dongfeng Honda. After Dongfeng Honda took over, it transformed the plant into a new plant specializing in the production of pure electric vehicle models. The report quoted a source close to DPCA as saying: "At present, the production equipment in the second plant of DPCA automobile has been emptied, Dongfeng Honda will use the factory behind, and DPCA only retains the fountain and office building in front of the factory." ”
Combined with previous news, this is part of the "slimming plan" of DPCA.
As early as July 2019, Reuters reported that PSA and Dongfeng had agreed to close two of its four factories in China and would launch a round of large-scale layoffs. According to the plan, DPCA will close its Wuhan first plant and will carry out commercial cooperation with the local government to redevelop the plant, and the original production equipment of the plant will be transferred to the wuhan third plant. The second factory in Wuhan, which is idle, will be sold by DPCA.
The report also said that Dfdf chairman Zhu Yanfeng has had many discussions with two other partners of Dongfeng, Honda and Nissan, and he has tried to persuade two Japanese automakers to take over one of DPCA's existing plants, but there has been no substantial progress.
With a real hammer, Dongfeng Honda became the receiver.
Contrary to the overcapacity of Dongfeng DPCA, Dongfeng Honda's production capacity, which has always been stable, is in a state of "full load". According to the data, Dongfeng Honda has an annual production capacity of 768,000 units. In 2019 and 2020, Dongfeng Honda's production reached 791,000 units and 840,000 units, respectively. This is also the direct reason why Dongfeng Honda took over the Shenlong Second Factory.
On January 5 this year, Dongfeng Group disclosed in the announcement that the new energy plant of Dongfeng Honda Automobile Co., Ltd. is located in the Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone. Production is scheduled to begin in 2024 with an initial base annual production capacity of 120,000 units. This indicates that the second plant of Dongfeng Honda will become the electric vehicle manufacturing base of Dongfeng Honda.
Today's Honda is vigorously promoting the electrification strategy. According to the plan, Dongfeng Honda will launch four pure electric models in the Chinese market in the future. Among them, the first model of the Dongfeng Honda e:N brand, e:NS1, will be launched this spring. In the next five years, Dongfeng Honda will also launch three e:N series models. The revamped DPCA No.2 plant will become Dongfeng Honda's new electric vehicle plant.
In fact, the sale of the factory is only the first step in the transformation of DPCA. The future DPCA may undergo greater changes.
Last year, a person close to dongfeng motor executives revealed that The Stellantis Group, a foreign shareholder of Dongfeng Motor and Dongfeng DPCA, has set up a working group to negotiate the adjustment of Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen's equity. The preliminary plan is for a foreign party to hold 75% of the equity of dongfeng Peugeot brand under Dongfeng Peugeot Automobile, and the Chinese side to hold 75% of the equity of Dongfeng Citroen brand. As for whether DPCA will retain the original equity ratio and transform into a foundry, or split into two joint ventures, Dongfeng Peugeot and Dongfeng Citroen, there is no conclusion.
It is reported that the change plan of DPCA will be announced on March 1.
A notable detail is that in late January, Dongfeng Group announced that it intends to sell up to 40 million shares of Stellantis' common stock through its wholly-owned subsidiary Dongfeng Motor (Hong Kong) International Co., Ltd., with a total value of 732 million euros (about 5.257 billion yuan). After the completion of the transaction, Dongfeng Group holds a 3.2% stake in Stellantis.
Some analysts believe that the sale of The stake in Stellantis by Dongfeng Group or the sluggish market performance of the latter's joint venture in China has a greater relationship with the slow movement in China. The dismal situation of DPCA is obvious to all, but the new "strategic plan" promised by Stellantis for the development of the Chinese market has not yet appeared. It is vaguely obvious that Dongfeng Motor has lacked confidence in the development of DPCA.
Judging from the reports of many media, Dongfeng Motor has put more energy into the autonomous passenger car sector. It remains to be seen how the future development of DPCA will be.