Mégane, 308, C4, DS4: French brands go back to the offensive against the Golf<

Historical announcements in recent weeks at the end of the thermal car have been withdrawing all the media attention.However, French car manufacturers are trying not to turn away from their short -term goals because in 2021, an important, even crucial, will be played out.The tricolor brands are launching an almost simultaneous assault to detriment the irremovable Volkswagen golf course of the compact sedan segment (also called segment C) with no less than four models.

Original and popular at the same time, Citroën's formula

It was Citroën who shot the first by launching its new C4 at the end of 2020.The popular brand of the Stellantis group (from the merger of the PSA and Fiat Chrysler groups) imagined a hybrid product between the SUV and the classic sedan to try to find a special place.Despite its iconoclastic line, the C4 found a balance so as not to pour into the whole divide.Its price positioning also allows it to position itself against an Octavia, one of the best -selling cars in Europe.

Read also 3 Mncitroën goes back to the offensive with an ambitious new C4

The other weapon of the Stellantis group is the long -awaited Peugeot 308.The famous French sedan carries heavy responsibilities on her shoulders, including that of succeeding a car of 2013.She will also be the first to wear the brand's new coat of arms, which even further assumes the brand's high-end ambition to the lion.Besides, the new 308 will be much more sophisticated than the previous one, and also more expensive.Peugeot assigned her the mission of getting on the podium of the best -selling cars of the segment in Europe, where she was only sixth.

Read also 3 minutes launches a new 308 and still goes upmarket...

DS4 attacks the top of the segment

The third blade of the Stellantis razor is still a notch above the cursor with the end of the year of the new DS4.This resolutely premium car also marks a turning point for the French label launched in 2014.This product seems to skip several stages of innovations and quality perceived compared to the DS9 yet launched a few months ago.DS bases important hopes on this sedan which must allow it to trigger a new commercial dynamic.

Read also 5 MNDS4: DS premium jump to conquer the world

But it is at Renault that the challenges of a new sedan of segment C are even more dramatized.The new Megane which will be presented at the Munich Motor Show in early September must allow the French group to revive.The diamond brand has lost a lot of land on this segment.The previous Megane made a flop.Besides, Renault has lost ground on all upper segments.Only Captur and Clio allowed the brand to exist commercially.But for Luca de Meo, appointed just a year ago at the head of the French group, this addiction to segment B explains the structural difficulties of Renault which led him to the edge of the precipice in 2020."Renault achieves two thirds of its profits in the B segment, while the C segment reports three times more," he stressed during the presentation of his Renaulution strategic plan last January.

Renault: teams on the bridge

At Renault, all teams are mobilized to succeed at all costs the launch of the new megane.Even if this sedan was mainly designed under the previous mandate, and largely during the managerial storm that was the spectacular eviction of Carlos Ghosn in November 2018...Until the arrival of Luca de Meo in July 2020.The former at Seat indicated it, the new models designed under his impetus will not arrive before 2023, but in the meantime, Renault must imperatively sell his mega if he wants to bail out his boxes...

The offensive of French car manufacturers is very ambitious.Many specialists believe that the segment is archinated by German groups.Moreover, some believe, like Bernard Jullien, lecturer in economics at the University of Bordeaux, that the French should focus on segment B where their legitimacy is greater than that of the Germans.He judges that there is an unexploited potential in terms of value creation.

Golf far ahead...

It must be said that the Volkswagen Golf reigns without sharing in the sedan segment segment.The 8th generation of this compact launched fifty years ago flew over competition in 2020 by grabbing 19% of market share.The second on the market, the BMW 1 Series, was far behind with 9.5% market share.In other words, the slope will be steep for the tricolor sedans, the first of which, the Peugeot 308, pointed out in sixth position with 4% of market share (behind the Ford Focus).The Renault Mégane was in 12th position with 2.7% of the European market.Especially since on this segment, they will face other models much more competitive than a golf like the new Skoda Scala already 9th sale, a Seat Leon (7th sale) or even a Toyota Corolla (8th sale).

This offensive in sedans contrasts with the efforts of the French during the second half of the 2010s, the priority of which was to reposition itself on the SUV segment.Their delay in this extremely dynamic segment had almost cost them their survival in the early 2010s, especially PSA on the verge of bankruptcy.Between 2010 and 2020, compact SUVs increased from 8 to 19% of total sales of new cars in Europe.At the same time, the compact sedans fell by 4 points.This segment nevertheless weighs 16% of the market.

And if it is no longer necessarily a question of going to seek volume, the French hope to draw better equipped and therefore more lucrative sales.Electrification will be a pretext for gaining ground since each of the French new features will have a 100% electric version.This technology could be a lever to impose products with high added value.Attention.Because if the golf will only be offered in a hybrid version, Volkswagen will however be in ambush with its ID.4, a very ambitious 100% electric car...