Changan PSA renamed Shenzhen Baoneng Motor

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Changan PSA Automobiles Co., Ltd.(CAPSA), formerly a 50:50 joint venture between Chongqing Changan Automobile and Groupe PSA, has been renamed Shenzhen Baoneng Motor Co.,Ltd., and its investor changed to Shenzhen Qianhai Ruizhi Investment Co.,Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Baoneng Motor Co.,Ltd, according to Shenzhen Administration for Market Regulation.

(Photo source: Baoneng Group)

Sun Li, vice president of Baoneng Investment Group Co.,Ltd, assumes the legal representative of Shenzhen Baoneng Automobile, serving as the replacement of Zhu Huarong, president of Chongqing Changan Automobile. Leadership positions are all occupied by members from Baoneng Group.

The new company's line of businesses includes the R&D, production and sale of automobiles, engines, transmission, auto components and relevant maintenance parts, etc.

It is noteworthy that the marketing and management services for imported DS-branded vehicles, including after-sales service, branding, product promotion, and consumer relation management, which were within Changan PSA's business scope, has been removed now.

In last November, Groupe PSA said it was preparing to tranfer its 50% stake in CAPSA, which had struggled with flagging sales.

Changan Automobile disclosed on December 31, 2019 it has signed an agreement to sell its 50% stake in the joint venture to a subsidiary of Baoneng Automobile for 1.63 billion yuan ($229 million).

Founded in 2011, CAPSA was initially 50/50 owned by China Chang'an Automobile Group Co., Ltd (CCAG) and the France-based Groupe PSA. In 2015, Changan Automobile got the joint venture's 50% share from CCAG.

(DS 7, photo source: DS)

CAPSA works on sale and production of vehicles under the premium car brand DS. Since the start of mass production in 2013, the joint venture has so far rolled out five models, which have presence in both car and SUV fields.

The eight-year-old joint venture was long mired in continuous loss and falling sales. According to Changan's statement, CAPSA posted a net loss of 874.09 million yuan ($123 million) in 2018, while the loss reached up to 2.23 billion yuan ($313 million) after only nine months through September, 2019.

The substantial loss should be mainly attributed to such factors as sales plunge, discontinued production of several models and the confirmation on the expected liabilities. For the first three quarters in 2019, CAPSA sold only 2,000 new cars, said Changan Automobile.