Dongfeng Citreon to rebuild sales network after slump

Shanghai, March 31, 2008 (Gasgoo.com) Liu Weidong, general manger of Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Company Ltd., said recently to the media that the sales of the company's Citroen brand models have slumped drastically in 2007. In a bid to attract excellent marketing talents, the company is planning to move its commercial division to Shanghai; meanwhile, the carmaker is set to rebuild its nationwide sales network to boost its capability of selling luxury car models.

Dongfeng Citroen Auto, the French car maker Peugeot Citroen's Chinese venture with Dongfeng Motor Corporation, achieved the annual tasks of 2007 in profits-increasing and cost-reducing, but the sales volume of its Citreon models failed to hit that year's target. In 2007, the sales revenue of Dongfeng Citroen vehicles reached RMB 20.62 billion, representing an increase of 7.24% over the previous year and a 31.53% increase in net profit year on year. A total of 206,000 Dongfeng Citroen vehicles were sold in the whole year, but only 115,000 of them are Citroen brand vehicles, far from that year's sales target.

According to Liu Weidong, three reasons led to the Citroen's failure to achieve the goal: the newly launched model C2 and the luxury model C Triomphe did not sell so well as expected, the roll-out of the new-generation Elysee model, originally scheduled for September, was postponed to April 2008, and the corporate management team was reshuffled in 2007.

The lack of appeal for marketing talents is another disturbing albatross around the general manager's neck. Dongfeng Citroen Auto is planning to move its commercial division to Shanghai, China's most booming economic center, to attract excellent marketing talents. The general manager said the current marketing team of Dongfeng Citroen cannot match up to the company's new strategies and targets, and as a result it's quite necessary to recruit better staff and rebuild a wider sales network in an effort to meet the market challenges ahead.

Dongfeng Citroen Auto will have three new models for launch in 2008, of which the new Elysee is expected to be rolled out in April 8, 2008. The sales target of the company's vehicles in 2008 is set at 260,000 units, and 150,000 of them will be Citroen brand vehicles. The best-seller is supposed to be the C4 model, a Citroen C-Triomphe that is to be launched in the second half of the year.

Dongfeng Motor, China's third largest automotive group after Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC) and FAW, also runs joint ventures with Japan's Nissan and Honda.