Dongfeng Citroen moves HQ to Shanghai

Shanghai, July 23 (Gasgoo.com) Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile Co., Ltd. (DPCA) began to move the headquarters of the Dongfeng Citroen brand to Shanghai on July 21. At the farewell evening, Chinese and French executives of the joint venture saw the Dongfeng Citroen team moving eastward to the super-city of China.

At first, Dongfeng Citroen moved its marketing headquarters (also including the administration, HR, PR and finance divisions) from Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province, to Shanghai. The new offices are located in Dongyin Center, Changning District of Shanghai. The eastern Chinese metropolis' advantages in talents, capital and information are expected to boost DPCA's brand recognition and presence in the Chinese auto market, said Liu Weidong, General Manager of DPCA.

Citroen is suffering fierce competition in China with the foray of other foreign brands. Car models it introduced into the market that cannot well satisfy the demand of Chinese consumers also lead to its poor sales locally. In order to change the embarrassment, the company finally made a decision to move the headquarters of Dongfeng Citroen to Shanghai from Wuhan. In addition, it will make a series of adjustments in the brand's sales network, car model introduction, marketing strategy, brand image and others.

The company has established three new marketing platforms, which will be mainly responsible for the sales of Dongfeng Citroen-branded B-class cars like C5, A-class cars like C4 and segmented market-focused products like Fukang and Elysee. The new marketing platforms will help the company better understand consumers' demand, said Yves Moulin, managing director of DPCA.

Apart from internal management personnel changes, DPCA has recruited talents from its well-performed domestic rivals to take charge of its high-end car marketing platform. They will make efforts to reform the operation structure and make a quick response to the demand of consumers, pointed out Yves Moulin.

Founded in May 1992, DPCA is a 50-50 joint venture between Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor Corp. and France-based PSA Peugeot Citroen. Its sales volume stood at 207,000 units in 2007, up 2.95% from a year ago. Of the total, 92,200 were Dongfeng Peugeot cars and 115,000 were Dongfeng Citroen cars.

DPCA plans to launch three new car models, including the new Citroen Elysee and Citroen C4 this year. The all-new premium C-Quatre (Citroen C4), a model locally made for China's hatchback segment, will go on sale in September. Dongfeng Citroen currently has six models and will build high-end models on Platform 3 to expand the product lineup.

The Shanghai headquarters will attract more marketing talents and resources to Dongfeng Citroen, which is expected to help make a significant breakthrough in its future sales growth.