Dongfeng Peugeot’s brand power is gradually declining, and whether the new 408 can reshape its image attracts attention

China Net Automobile, August 16th (reporter, Wang Yidong) The problem of abnormal vehicle noises that are often ignored does not seem serious, but if it occurs frequently for a long time, it will not only cause trouble to the owner of the car and the passengers in the car, but also pose a dangerous hazard to the safety of the vehicle. Recently, China Net Automobile Complaint Platform received a complaint from a Dongfeng Peugeot owner that his 2022 508L had multiple abnormal noises shortly after buying it, and what made the owner unbearable was that "the maintenance staff of the 4S shop asked me to endure…". As of press time, the owner reported that the problem of the vehicle had not been properly resolved.

The new car has many creaking noises. The 4S store said that the more it is dismantled, the more abnormal noises it makes.

The reporter immediately contacted the owner of the complaint. According to the owner, Mr. Xing, his car (2022 508L 400THP PureTech driving version) was just purchased in June this year. In less than a month, the vehicle appeared "squeaky" abnormal noise during driving, including the central control, B pillar, sunroof and many other places. There are different degrees of abnormal noise problems, and the front and rear radars are also slow to respond. After inspection by the maintenance staff of the 4S shop, it was called "normal phenomenon".

After repeated communication with the owner and repeated inspections by the 4S shop, "they removed the B pillar, but there was no problem." The owner complained that "now the bumpy road section, the B pillar is still creaking," which made Mr. Xing unbearable.

Regarding the abnormal sound of the central control, the owner told the reporter: "If the 4S shop (maintenance staff) said that the central control is disassembled for inspection, the more abnormal sounds may be, and they do not recommend disassembling it." To this explanation, Mr. Xing said he could not accept it: "The new car has only been driven for more than 2,000 kilometers, and this kind of problem occurs. I hope Peugeot can help me solve the vehicle failure as soon as possible."

According to the reporter’s investigation, the problem of abnormal noise of the car is also common on other complaint platforms, involving abnormal steering noise, abnormal noise of the central control, abnormal noise of the chassis, etc. In response to the complaint, the reporter also contacted Dongfeng Peugeot, and the other party said that the owner would be contacted as soon as possible to solve the vehicle problem.

Dongfeng Peugeot’s brand reputation is declining day by day

When it comes to Dongfeng Peugeot, I have to mention Shenlong Automobile. It can be seen that in the past two years, Shenlong Automobile has indeed made a lot of efforts to return to the track, including accelerating the launch of new products, including Citroen 2021 Tianyi, Citroen Versailles C5X, and the new Peugeot 4008 and 2022 508L models are all regarded as "turning over".

According to the latest sales volume released by Shenlong Automobile, in July this year, the company delivered 10,636 vehicles, achieving 20 consecutive months of positive year-on-year growth. From January to July this year, the cumulative sales volume was 66395 vehicles, an increase of 39% year-on-year. From the data point of view, it is undeniable that Shenlong Automobile does show signs of recovery, but the monthly sales volume of about 10,000 vehicles is still different from its high-light era. It is understood that Shenlong Automobile’s annual sales target for this year is set at 150,000 vehicles, and it has achieved break-even. As of July, the cumulative sales volume of 66395 vehicles has completed 44.2% of the target sales volume.

Specific to the models of Dongfeng Peugeot, the data shows that, except for the three models of Peugeot 4008, 408, and 2008, the monthly sales of other models are only maintained at more than 100 vehicles.

And for the new energy field that major automakers have laid out, Dongfeng Peugeot has not achieved any success. The only new energy models on sale are the Peugeot 4008 PHEV and the Peugeot 508L PHEV. However, according to third-party sales statistics, the sales of the two vehicles in June were only more than ten vehicles.

There are many reasons for the poor market performance and poor sales. Poor quality control or one of the main factors of Dongfeng Peugeot. According to the statistics of the reporter, the quality problem of Dongfeng Peugeot has a long history. As early as 2016, the owners of its 408 models complained that the vehicles had serious oil burning problems. Subsequently, the problem occurred in many models including 308 and 4008, and it has not been solved for a long time. In 2019, the number of complaints about this problem reached its peak. In the face of more than 1,000 complaints, the resolution rate was quite low.

It was not until 2020 that Dongfeng Peugeot initiated a recall due to the defect of the timing belt. It recalled nearly 90,000 models equipped with 1.2T engines, involving Dongfeng Peugeot 2008, 308S, New 308, New 408 and other models. The reason for the recall is that the 1.2T engine wet oil-immersed timing belt is assembled. During use, due to chemical erosion of oil, additives, cleaning agents, etc. used in the vehicle, the material properties are degraded, causing the fabric on the surface of the timing belt to be damaged and fall off, which will clog the lubricating oil filter device, causing the oil pressure to decrease and the engine failure light to light up.

However, this behavior has also attracted doubts from owners, who believe that Dongfeng Peugeot knows that the engine is defective but takes an evasive attitude, does not take the recall as soon as possible, allowing the hidden danger of failure to continue to expand, putting consumers’ lives at risk, and confessed to Dongfeng Peugeot brand completely disappointed. What is even more unacceptable is that many owners later reported to reporters that the engine still had a serious oil burning problem after replacing the belt. In this regard, the reporter has also done a series of related reports before. (Event review: http://auto.china.com.cn/news/20200312/703570.shtml)

In fact, the quality problems of Dongfeng Peugeot’s models are not only that, but also the collective complaints of owners of the early Peugeot 408 due to abnormal transmission noise have attracted much attention. Now, the abnormal noise of the Peugeot 508L model has been criticized by owners again.

As mentioned above, although we can see that Shenlong Automobile is working hard to change, in the face of the rapidly changing domestic auto market, it is difficult to rebound and return to the track. For Dongfeng Peugeot, the weakening product power and the gradually disappearing user reputation are restricting the development of Dongfeng Peugeot.

Luo Ming, general manager of Dongfeng Peugeot’s brand department, said at this year’s dealer conference that in 2022, Dongfeng Peugeot will accelerate the transformation while maintaining the brand upward, stand firm, really open the development channel, and reshape the brand perception. At present, Dongfeng Peugeot’s new 408 has been pre-sold. Although the new car has undergone great changes in appearance design and interior layout, there has not been much improvement in power and body size. For the competitive advantage of the new car and future market performance, we maintain a wait-and-see attitude.