Wen\Wei WuXian
In an interview in 2021, Qu Hongyu, vice president of marketing at Dongfeng Citroen, said publicly when talking about the importance of the Versailles C5X that the Versailles C5X "is a product that is truly built according to customers and co-created by customers." "It not only reflects the French taste, but also takes into account the preferences of Chinese consumers, fully demonstrating that "the product is more Chinese".
At that time, it was the first year after the release of the "Yuan +" plan by DPCA, and the Versailles C5X, as the first brand new model after the release of the plan, was regarded as the key to the return of DPCA to the mainstream car market
Unfortunately, however, the Versailles C5X, which has been pinned high hopes by Dongfeng Citroën, does not seem to be having a good time at the moment, a clear example of which is the tepid sales volume.
Although at the beginning of the listing, the Versailles C5X claimed to have broken 5,000 orders in 20 days and 8,000 orders in 37 days, the actual situation is that by the end of December 2021, the cumulative sales of the Versailles C5X are only 13,937 vehicles, and there is obviously still a big gap between such performance and the so-called "explosion".
What is more worrying is that after experiencing the peak of sales exceeding 5,000 in November and December last year, the popularity of the Versailles C5X is currently falling. According to the data, the sales volume of the Versailles C5X in January was only 3188 units, down nearly 37% from the 5000+ in December, so the decline inevitably makes people think that the C5X may be a "short-lived" for French cars.
January C5X sales declined sequentially
Dismal sales also mean that the overall performance of the Versailles C5X is not strong, with the C5X ranking 18th in the mid-size car segment in the same class, behind Mondeo, Maribal XL, Asia Dragon and Regal, LaCrosse and other models, not to mention camry, Accord, Tianlai, Maiten, Passat.
At present, the main reason why C5X has not become popular is that its product strength has not been recognized by the market. The obvious two slot points are that one is that the positioning is too niche, at the beginning of the listing, some people called it "four unlike", unlike cars and not like SUVs, cross-border style is too ostentatious, but the current "cross-border" is not popular in the eyes of the new generation of consumers.
Although the new car has generated a certain degree of heat due to styling positioning and price before and after the launch, it has not been completely converted into sales. Coupled with the fact that French brands have withdrawn from the first-tier joint venture market and gradually become niche brands, Versailles C5X has become a "niche" among the "niche".
The second is that there are still slot points in the product, including the power as a mid-level car using a 1.6T engine and the "torsion beam rear non-independent suspension" of the whole series using the "plate car suspension". In particular, the torque beam type non-exclusive rear suspension is rare in the mid-level car, although the French car has a certain degree of power in chassis adjustment, but such a cost saving is difficult for consumers to recognize.
Moreover, what is more worrying is that as the time to market increases, the number of complaints about the Citroën Versailles C5X is also increasing. Including body shake, engine failure lights on, transmission shake, trunk failure and other issues of feedback.
A owner of the Versailles C5X 2021 1.6T model said: "The low-speed three-speed sudden setback and accompanied by jitter, followed by the engine shaking at 90 miles, the steering wheel and armrest box shake, which is very obvious. And manufacturers and 4S stores can not come up with a clear solution that can solve the jitter. ”
In addition, in the forum, it can also be found that car friends complain about the problems of C5X products, including "sudden engine oil pressure failure during driving" and other issues.
While affecting the consumer car experience, similar problems will inevitably have a certain impact on the reputation and brand image of versailles C5X, and even directly dissuade some consumers who want to start, further restricting the sales of Versailles C5X.
Although Qu Hongyu, deputy general manager of marketing at Dongfeng Citroen, said, "Always think about what you can do for customers, how to do more for customers, and adhere to long-termism and altruism." The versailles C5 X's configuration, pricing and co-creation services are all profound manifestations of these shifts. "But in terms of current sales performance and market recognition and evaluation, the Versailles C5X has not really popularized such a vision."
Write at the end:
In the view of "Car World", as a new car that has not been launched for too long, the listing of the Versailles C5X has injected a shot in the arm for the declining French car, but "the disease is like a mountain, and the disease is like a silk". Whether the Versailles C5X is a "flash in the pan" or not will take time to see, but for Qu Hongyu and Dongfeng Citroen, there is not much time left for them to turn over.
(This article is originally produced by the editorial department of [Auto Industry] New Media, the author of this article is Wei Wuxian, and the reprint should indicate the source)