It is a city that French carmakers know well: Wuhan, the capital of Hubei, in central China, with 14 million residents. Historically, Citroën and Peugeot produced their first Chinese cars here, followed by Nissan and Renault. All four brands have the same local partner: Dongfeng, the region’s government-owned enterprise. The Dongfeng Peugeot Citroën Automotive (DPCA) joint venture was set up in 1992. In 2003, Dongfeng Nissan was launched, while Dongfeng Renault Automotive Company (DRAC) began production in 2016.
Less than a decade later, the Franco-Chinese auto industry landscape has been completely turned upside down. PSA, now Stellantis, abandoned its production activities in China and handed over its share of the plant to its partner. Of the three plants formerly operating in Wuhan, only one remains operational and still produces combustion engine vehicles. Of the other two, “one is now dedicated to Honda, while the other, at the end of its lease, was returned to the government, which owns the land in China. A park and housing units occupy the land,” said Shuang Li, marketing manager, in front of a Citroën C5 sedan at the Auto Valley Forum, bringing together French and Chinese professionals in Wuhan on April 23.
As for Renault’s DRAC, it ceased operations in 2020. Nevertheless, the Group retains a link with Dongfeng: the Spring, Dacia’s small electric car, is still produced in Wuhan and exported to Europe.
Nine brands and 40 plants
The “cradle of the Chinese automobile,” in the words of former Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, which began with the arrival of Citroën, is in the throes of change, like the rest of the sector in China. This is what 80 French auto industry professionals (dealers, financiers, charging station specialists, equipment manufacturers, etc.) came to discover, led by Mobilians, their union, before heading off to the Beijing Motor Show.
Dongfeng, like all Wuhan-based industrial giants, has to contend with the forced electrification of the Chinese automotive sector, led by private groups such as BYD, a former battery manufacturer who has become the world’s number one electric vehicle manufacturer, Geely, which started out in refrigerators before buying Volvo and 40% of Renault’s internal combustion engine subsidiary, or Chery, which just announced the construction of an electric vehicle assembly plant in Barcelona, Spain, on a former Nissan industrial site. Startups such as Nio, Leapmotor and Xpeng (based in Wuhan) are also arriving, using highly agile production methods to accelerate the pace of product launches. Phone manufacturers Huawei and Xiaomi are also taking technology a step further. Not to mention Tesla, whose sedans are a fixture on Chinese streets.
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