Photo/Zhang Jian

Nov.27 (NBD) -- French car brands such as Dongfeng Peugeot, Dongfeng Renault and DS under CAPSA presented exceptionally stylish product shows at The 16th Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition held last week, but failed to attract much attention from audiences and media.

French passenger cars are having a hard time in China with overall market share down from 1.84 percent last year to 1.4 percent in the first ten months of this year, according to statistics released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Specifically, sales of Dongfeng Peugeot, Dongfeng Renault and DS models fell 22.6 percent, 21.08 percent and 42.25 percent in the January-October period, data from the China Passenger Cars Association shows.

Looking back, French cars entered the Chinese market at almost the same time with German cars in the 1980s when Citroën Fukang was as popular as Volkswagen's Santana. China even overtook France as the largest market of PSA in 2014 when the French automaker sold as many as 734,000 cars in the country.

However, sales of French cars began declining since then. Taking last year's statistics as an example, combined sales of Citroën, Peugeot, Renault and DS models were less than one sixth of Volkswagen's figures in China.

Compared with German, Japanese and Chinese counterparts, French car makers have no well-rounded development strategies amid the transformation of the whole industry, which may make them less popular, said an senior industry insider to news outlet The 21st Century Business Herald. In contrast, most of their rivals have made clear new-energy car strategies, the person added.

In fact, the car-making concept of an automaker has a lot to do with the culture of the automaker's country. France's romantic culture makes the outer appearance and internal design of French cars more exotic and less mainstream.

Jean-Philippe Imparato, Chief Executive Officer of the Peugeot brand, noted that the competition among French, German and Japanese cars is long standing. The Peugeot brand distinguishes itself with high quality products that offer high residual value. In addition, the brand pays great attention to needs of Chinese consumers. To ensure long-term development, the best way is to improve brand loyalty, he added.

Apparently, some French car makers have already noticed the reasons behind weak sales and are adjusting their strategies accordingly. 

Peugeot plans to introduce a new car in China each year with electrified versions for option. In addition, it will enhance its high-end portfolios to increase profits.

Dongfeng Renault will continue to implement its "2022 Vision" released last year with product mix to include 9 local products centered on SUVs, including 3 electric vehicles.

Many French cars seem to have found the balance between romance and market needs and reintegrated themselves into the market.

However, the only exception is DS, which only logged sales of 5,847 units last year.

Being a luxury car brand, DS didn't build its brand image as successful as Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi. With the market share of French cars getting smaller in China, some will eventually exit the market, added the industry insider mentioned above.

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn