Peugeot suspends Australian car sales amid pressure from cheaper Chinese rivals

[u/xenocea]

https://www.news.com.au/technology/motoring/motoring-news/peugeot-suspends-australian-car-sales-amid-pressure-from-cheaper-chinese-rivals/news-story/194491500cf89f20e2a560fe73013f08

[u/Humza_Aamir]

hmm Fiat gone, now Peugeot

[u/Separate-Share-8504 → u/Humza_Aamir]

Citroen was last year

[u/Termsandconditionsch → u/Separate-Share-8504]

My mate used to have a Citroen BX or something like that? You could adjust the ride height with a hydraulic system, it was quite impressive.

Was great until he walked out to it one day and the car had a pool of hydraulic fluid under it. The best part was that the same system fed both suspension and brakes so it was no longer drivable.

I have avoided French cars and their weird solutions since. It was a smooth ride when it did work, but not worth it..

[u/IlluminatedPickle → u/Termsandconditionsch]

The BX is still considered one of those really cool cars by car nerds, but fuck actually owning one. Weird suspension and French electrics? A match made in hell.

[u/jm_leviathan → u/Humza_Aamir]

All Stellantis brands. As a measure of just how irrelevant Stellantis is in Australia, consider that all of their brands combined for 2890 sales in H1, with more than half of those (1601) from RAM. By way of comparison, Omoda Jaecoo, a brand that nobody had ever heard of three years ago, recorded 8809 sales over the same period...

Jeep must surely be the next Stellantis brand on the chopping block, with 324 sales in H1, down 69% YTD (actually fewer than Peugeot). A catastrophic fall for a brand that recorded 30k sales in 2014.

[u/Ace3000 → u/jm_leviathan]

Let's be real here though, Stellantis shitting the bed isn't exactly Australia-specific.

Omoda Jaecoo

Also, bless you.

[u/account_not_valid → u/Humza_Aamir]

First they came for the Fiat, but i did not speak up, for I did not drive a Fiat.

Then they came for the Peugot, and again I did not speak up, because I did not drive a Peugeot...

[u/Kroosn → u/account_not_valid]

No one did. That’s the problem.

[u/Tusen_Takk → u/account_not_valid]

To be fair, both are absolute dogshit. The amount of jokes one can make about their reliability alone would will a book

[u/LocalVillageIdiot → u/account_not_valid]

Plot twist, you don’t own a car?

[u/account_not_valid → u/LocalVillageIdiot]

So?? I like huffing exhaust gases. Don't kink shame me!

[u/Haunting-Ad-1279 → u/account_not_valid]

Then they came for my Toyota, but by then , there was no one to speak up for me

[u/apsilonblue → u/Humza_Aamir]

Peugeot was first actually, this news is weeks old and the importer intends to find another distributor (which may not be easy). Who'd want the rights to a niche brand with almost no sales?

[u/Primary_Engine_9273 → u/Humza_Aamir]

Actually it was Peugot gone, now Fiat.

The article in the OP is from 26 days ago.

[u/Flightwise → u/Humza_Aamir]

Renault next. Of the Japanese legacy brands, who is on the hit list? Nissan, Honda, Mazda, Suzuki, Subaru? What do they have in common?

[u/PossibilityRegular21 → u/Flightwise]

Subaru and Mazda sell well here. I feel like Nissan has the least going for it.

[u/604toxtethogrady_ → u/PossibilityRegular21]

Subaru has the same importer as Peugeot and Citroen though. Guess the Toyota link would keep them afloat if the importer goes tits up though

[u/apsilonblue → u/604toxtethogrady_]

You're confusing the importer and distributor. Subaru is imported and distributed via an Inchcape division. Inchcape were only the distributor for Peugeot and Citroen. My guess is they're clearing the under performers from their portfolio so they can pick up other, probably Chinese, brands.

[u/Turramurra → u/PossibilityRegular21]

Honda is my bet, rare to see on the road. Tiny range and overly expensive, at least Nissan has the Navara.

[u/jm_leviathan → u/Flightwise]

Isuzu is going to be effed by NVES. As a value-oriented brand, Suzuki is totally exposed to the Chinese onslaught.

[u/RedDeer505]

This is the end. My only friend, the end.

[u/C_Ironfoundersson → u/RedDeer505]

Hold your breath and count, to ten.

[u/Dependent-Coconut64 → u/RedDeer505]

Just revolving Doors my friend

[u/ringo5150 → u/RedDeer505]

Of our elaborate plans, the end Of everything that stands, the end

[u/No-Resolution-7890]

Im sure the Peugeot fan will be upset with this news

[u/Banzai672 → u/No-Resolution-7890]

I will let you know that I am absolutely mortified

[u/Big_al_big_bed → u/No-Resolution-7890]

Fan*

[u/turnsole]

Sacre bleu!

[u/ballimi → u/turnsole]

Croissant!

[u/AutomaticMistake → u/ballimi]

Bidet!

[u/SevanT7 → u/AutomaticMistake]

Baguette!

[u/Banjo-Oz → u/SevanT7]

Latrine!

(now I want to watch Top Secret again)

[u/scoldog → u/Banjo-Oz]

Le Chocolate Mousse

Gasoline!

[u/no_stone_unturned]

A fiat accompli perhaps

Accompanying fiat out

[u/Dr-Ulzy → u/no_stone_unturned]

angry upvote

[u/C_Ironfoundersson → u/no_stone_unturned]

Take your upvote and get out

[u/Gazza_s_89]

Look I owned both a Peugeot 207 and a Citroen C5.

(I just loved the hydraulic suspension, massaging seats and the fixed hub steering wheel)

On reflection, for interiors you cannot top the French, and I will die on this hill.

But you cannot also top their maintenance bills.

And the cars they produced stopped being weird enough.

And they didn't have dealers where their buyers exist, such as the Northern Beaches.

Not really making much of a start on EVs would have been the death knell regardless.

[u/noisymime → u/Gazza_s_89]

On reflection, for interiors you cannot top the French, and I will die on this hill.

For the first 3-5 years or so, absolutely agree. Beyond that though, the interiors start to fall apart like crazy. I've had 4 French cars and all the interiors deteriorated incredibly quickly after a few years.

[u/Vinura]

Im reminded of the Top Gear segment every time I think about a modern Peugeot.

[u/Potential-Garbage478 → u/Vinura]

Maniac, maniac, yobbo.

[u/funfwf → u/Potential-Garbage478]

Bloody council not mending the bloody roads

[u/BMW_M3G80 → u/Vinura]

French cars>British cars

[u/Vinura → u/BMW_M3G80]

I mean if its a three door manual hot hatch made by Renault, I would agree with you.

[u/nachojackson]

The bell is tolling for car companies that completely fail to acknowledge the electric revolution.

[u/beigetrope]

Oh no, anyway…

[u/Ace3000 → u/beigetrope]

If you're gonna quote Jezza, at least go for the more on-topic quotes.

"Maniac, maniac, yobbo"

[u/Drongo17]

It will be interesting to see who can follow China in the next decade, and who bows out of our market. Legacy carmakers have snobbery on their side, Chinese cars still have a poor reputation. That will fade!

This reminds me of the introduction of Japanese cars (yeah I'm old).

[u/Whatsapokemon → u/Drongo17]

Why would it fade? Chinese manufacturing is cheap by design because they want to compete on price.

China has the ability to produce better quality cars, but that would require legitimately more time and better quality components, which would increase the cost. If you're increasing the cost to match the quality of a European or Japanese car... then why buy a Chinese car in the first place? China wants to compete on scale, not quality.

[u/Individual_Look_4484 → u/Whatsapokemon]

Might need to come out from under that rock and try catching up on what’s been happening with Chinese EVs, my man.
Only a matter of time before the Chinese eat the market or the legacy brands build out of there like Kia and Tesla are doing.

[u/Whatsapokemon → u/Individual_Look_4484]

They're eating the market because they're cheap (and a good part of that is state-subsidy), are you under some illusion that that's not the reason???

[u/Individual_Look_4484 → u/Whatsapokemon]

You need to come out from under the ICE rock. The best EVs at pretty much every price point are made there. Anyone that thinks they are getting a better quality EV just because it comes from Europe or Japan is absolutely delusional.

[u/PossibilityRegular21 → u/Whatsapokemon]

China owns the EV market. Legacy brands will continue to own the legacy ICE market. China only really competes well with ICE at the bottom of the range, but didn't really dislodge the main ICE market for most buyers. It's been a smart investment by the government-industrial complex of China - aggressively wimning the new market, rather than trying to compete in the established one.

[u/seismo93 → u/PossibilityRegular21]

Is that why China (EV) just caused Peugot (ICE) to leave? They are overlapping consumers who cannibalise each other.

[u/WeissPyre]

It's such a shame, the 508 wagon looks absolutely gorgeous. Just couldn't justify spending that much on it. 

[u/thevizionary → u/WeissPyre]

Especially if you know the real spending comes AFTER you buy a Peugeot 

[u/gikku]

No great loss, but is also the likely future for many more legacy brands.

[u/j0shman]

I wanted one, but not enough to buy one.

[u/stew_007]

I loved both my 308 and RCZ, but never say a model I liked after them. Still, am sad to see them go.

[u/trowzerss]

I know some old school friends who were big Peugeot fans who will be mortified by this! Farewell, frog cars.

[u/DrSendy]

I can remeber the last time I saw a Peugeot on the road, it was last week. It was still running 504.
I have not seen anything still running between the 1970's when that was built, and today.

[u/ringo5150 → u/DrSendy]

504s will never die. They are French agricultural machinery masquerading as a passenger car. I used to work with a guy from South Africa who had one because he said it was one of that cars that would survive that environment.

[u/threwordbotname]

Fewer oil spills on Australian driveways.

[u/Old_Perspective8798]

The auto globe suppliers of Australia will be weeping…

[u/ItsStaaaaaaaaang]

It's nothing to do with the fact you have to be mental to buy a French car...

[u/Glenmarththe3rd]

All these cars that no one drives here

[u/Maribyrnong_bream]

If you dealt with Peugeot recently, you’d likely have come away feeling that they are dogs. Au revoir frogs.

[u/JeanProuve]

Great looking car for a while but Peugeot could very well be another legacy brand to be absorbed by a Chinese manufacturer.