[TusharK]

As Citroen prepares to launch its first product in India next year, the carmaker seems to have started setting up its dealer network. One of the first Citroen showrooms in the country is coming up in the Naraina area of Delhi.



The dealership is located at Paris Motocorp, Naraina Industrial Area Phase 1, Delhi. The building is still under construction and has a large signboard outside.

Citroen will foray into the Indian market with the C5 Aircross. Between 2021 and 2023, the French brand plans to launch four models. The upcoming C3 Sporty crossover will be important for the company as it will be its first mass market offering.

Reports suggest that Citroen will not launch diesel mass market cars in India. However, the C5 Aircross premium SUV will get a 2.0-litre diesel engine.

Thanks to Ashutosh Mittal for sending this image in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP page!

Link to Team-BHP News

[arjab]

If Citroen, (PSA, or should we call them STELLANTIS Group now?), can get the after sales service and dealer network in place then this manufacturer can turn out to be a serious challenger in the years ahead.

Their understanding of vehicles, engineering depth, the way they make their cars ride and handle, the design & stylistic flair; should not be underestimated at all. Their premium brand, DS, has some serious desirable machinery in its arsenal.

Also PSA/Stellantis has huge economies of scale. I am sure they will not be releasing the vehicle for India only; but also looking to export the same models to the entire South Asian region, LATAM, South Africa and maybe some countries in Eastern Europe / Baltic states as well.
With Peugeot, Opel-Vauxhall and now Fiat-Chrysler as part of their organisation, PSA-STELLANTIS has now the scale economies to achieve/derive phenomenal cost savings in sourcing and shared resources such as Engineering and testing.

Also, they seem to have an ear to the ground. They did not choose to launch the Citroen brand just on a whim but as a well thought out strategy to avoid the shadows of PSA's ghosts from the past: a.k.a the Peugeot fiasco in India in the late 90's.
They have a dedicated platform as well. For powertrian refinement and performance they are benchmarking the Suzuki K-series engines and hoping to better them with their powerplants.

This will be an interesting OEM to watch.

[navaneeth]

Abarth, Citroen, Fiat, and Jeep are part of the Stellantis group. Jeep showrooms already bear the logos of Abarth, Fiat, and Jeep, will they add the Citreon logo too and use the same service/sales network?

[Jeroen]

I hope they are doing better than here in the Netherlands. During the last couple of years a constant stream of Citroen dealers has closed their doors. Many of them went bust, with no help from the Citroen HQ.

Good friends of ours ran a Citroen dealership for several decades, until they too went bust. Citroen imposes very strict T&Cs on their dealers, with very tough targets and very minimal cost re-imbusrsement on warrantee repairs etc.

At least their product line up is a bit better nowadays then a few years ago. I am not a big fan of Citroen, I have owned a few, obviously the 2CV in a couple variant.

Citroens at some point in time were quirky, very unusual, innovative designs. Not necessarily my type of car, but I always enjoyed reading up on them, taking them for a drive if I had the chance.

This is what Citroen says on their brand value:

The Citroën brand affirms its renewal
OUR SIGNATURE : INSPIRED BY YOU
At the heart of the automotive market, Citroën has been a popular brand in the noble sense since 1919: a brand in tune with the times, making people and their lifestyles its first source of inspiration. This ‘people minded brand’ spirit even permeates the Brand’s signature: INSPIRED BY YOU.

OUR PROMISE: BE DIFFERENT, FEEL GOOD
More than ever, Citroën is reconnecting with its values of boldness and comfort, through a strong brand promise: Be Different, Feel Good.
Be Different refers to Citroën’s ability to dare, to shake up the codes and to bring a breath of fresh air to the automotive landscape, notably through design, a key marker of the Brand since always.
Feel Good refers to the Brand’s ability to generate well-being for all passengers. This commitment has given rise to the Citroën Advanced Comfort® programme, a global and modern vision of comfort that guides the design of all Citroën models.

OUR VALUES: OPTIMISTIC, HUMAN, SMART
Whether it be in its product bias, in the tone of its communications and more generally in its entire customer experience, Citroën is based on 3 core values at the heart of its DNA:
OPTIMISTIC: Resolutely optimistic, Citroën has always been bold. Driven by an enthusiastic and unostentatious vision of the automobile, the Brand never ceases to amaze. Smiling, it does not hesitate to use humour and colour.
HUMAN: True to its signature Inspired by You, Citroën places people at the heart of everything it does. Societal changes, new lifestyles and consumption patterns are its primary source of inspiration for inventing an ever more fluid, easy and comfortable customer experience, in line with the aspirations and customs of our time.
SMART: Creative and ingenious, the Brand has always democratized innovative and resolutely useful solutions for its customers. More than ever, Citroën’s services and technologies are inventing a unique automotive experience: suspensions with Progressive Hydraulic Cushions, Advanced Comfort seats, Connected Cam CitroënTM, Citroën Advisor, Citroën Service 24/7, etc.


2020: ELECTRIFICATION AND INTERNATIONALISATION
After a year 2019 marked by the celebrations of its Centenary and a sales record in Europe for the past eight years, Citroën continues its offensive in 2020. A year that kicks off two major challenges for the Brand:
The electrification of the range, with no less than 6 electrified models (either full electric or PHEV) this year, including the New Citroën C5 Aircross SUV Hybrid, the Brand’s first Plug-in Hybrid model.
Accelerating international expansion, with the launch of Citroën in India, a key challenge for the Brand’s global growth in the coming years. Citroën will begin there this year by launching its flagship C5 Aircross SUV before launching – from 2021 – its C-Cubed programme, a range of new international models with a high level of local integration.

Source: https://www.groupe-psa.com/en/brands...vices/citroen/

I know all car manufacturers hire a bunch of weirdo, overpaid consultants to come up with texts like these. But when I read stuff like some of this, I always vow to myself never to buy anything from them.

unostentatious vision of the automobile

Really?

Citroën places people at the heart of everything it does.

Unless you are an independent Citroen dealer. Then they just dictate what you can and can not do.

They see their entry into India as a “challenge”. Well, at least they might be onto something realistic here for once. That seems like a down to earth type of approach.

Jeroen

[DImPo]

Even though Nissan Magnite is quite enticing VFM (and Renault Kiger also expected to be similar) I sincerely wish that the C3 Crossover will be much more interesting and put the existing overpriced sub 4 mtr SUVs in its place .

[Napalm]

Originally Posted by arjab

If Citroen, (PSA, or should we call them STELLANTIS Group now?), can get the after sales service and dealer network in place then this manufacturer can turn out to be a serious challenger in the years ahead.

Also PSA/Stellantis has huge economies of scale. I am sure they will not be releasing the vehicle for India only; but also looking to export the same models to the entire South Asian region, LATAM, South Africa and maybe some countries in Eastern Europe / Baltic states as well.
With Peugeot, Opel-Vauxhall and now Fiat-Chrysler as part of their organisation, PSA-STELLANTIS has now the scale economies to achieve/derive phenomenal cost savings in sourcing and shared resources such as Engineering and testing.

This will be an interesting OEM to watch.

I don’t think it is called PSA-STELLANTIS. It is just Stellantis “mega” group that was formed by the merger of 2 groups, PSA-group and FCA-group.

Does this mean the C5 aircross will use Jeep-Compass’s localised platform in India ?

Will it come with FCA’s same 2.0 L multijet diesel engine that does duty in Jeep-Compass, MG Hector & Tata Harrier. It might become the national diesel engine of India just like the 1.3 L multi-jet diesel was.

The Peugeot, Opel-Vauxhall have a lot of good hatchbacks in EU which can compete with our premium hatchbacks like Baleno, i20 & Altroz. Like the Peugeot 208 which is slightly less than 4m length(3,973mm). Return of latest gen Opel compact cars in India with Citroen badge? The possibilities are immense for Stellantis group in India.

https://www.carwale.com/news/peugeot...-indian-roads/

https://www.carwale.com/news/citroen...-indian-roads/

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by Napalm

Does this mean the C5 aircross will use Jeep-Compass’s localised platform in India ?

Will it come with FCA’s same 2.0 L multijet diesel engine that does duty in Jeep-Compass, MG Hector & Tata Harrier. It might become the national diesel engine of India just like the 1.3 L multi-jet diesel was.

That seems most likely to me. And if that is the case, we just might be in for a little treat. For the Compass mechanicals are an excellent starting point. The diesel engine is phenomenal and the ride, handling and dynamics are first rate. All it needs is a revised cabin with more space at the back, and you’ll have a winner as long as it is priced fairly. This might also give Jeep the much needed economies of scale to keep its own operations going.

[motorworks]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

That seems most likely to me. And if that is the case, we just might be in for a little treat. For the Compass mechanicals are an excellent starting point. The diesel engine is phenomenal and the ride, handling and dynamics are first rate. All it needs is a revised cabin with more space at the back, and you’ll have a winner as long as it is priced fairly. This might also give Jeep the much needed economies of scale to keep its own operations going.

I dont think the C5 air cross and the Compass will have anything in common. Citroen finalised their india plans much before the whole merger. And the C5 air cross is probably being imported in either CKD or SKD form. And which is why the price would be north of 27-30 lakhs.
When it comes to any synergies between Citroen and Jeep, I think it will take a while, at least in India. Jeep is currently focused on the 7 seat SUV, whereas Citroen will actually focus more on their compact cross over, which will be made in India with high localization.

Ideally Citroen and Jeep should do a lot more together, but they have completely different DNAs, and usually such big mergers do not have immediate impact in smaller markets for the group.

[GTO]

Citroen is quite stupid if its not going to use the FCA network. First off, I have serious doubts on whether Citroen cars will be well accepted by Indian customers. Then, FCA's car dealers are already struggling with limited sales of the Compass. Why not strengthen existing relationships and give them a shot in the arm? What on earth is the point of a "merger" if you don't partner up?

In most cases, the demand for standalone showrooms is solely driven by ego, not common sense.

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by GTO

Citroen is quite stupid if its not going to use the FCA network. What on earth is the point of a "merger" if you don't partner up?

What you miss is that the merger of PSA and FCA to form Stellantis is not complete as yet. They received EU anti trust approval just last week, and the shareholder vote to approve the merger is scheduled for next week. Once those votes go through, there still may be the need for anti trust approval in other markets, though I am not sure if any market other than the EU would be a deal breaker. Overall, the merger will take the best part of Q1-2021 to complete.

FCA and PSA would also have been legally barred from making any moves to cooperate or move towards post merger integration before they receive anti trust approvals in all material markets. So even if they ultimately want to integrate sales channels (which probably makes sense), that would be an item they can progress only closer to the end of 2021 (You can safely bet that Post Merger Integration in India is not among the Top 50 things their global management will be focussed on.)

[vardhann5]

Alright, I was at the FCA Kanakpura road, Bangalore yesterday to take delivery of my car (have taken to Xpel Koramangala and will be getting on Sunday, I will be sharing a detailed review post that). While we waited for the auspicious time for delivery, I started having a casual talk with the SA. It seems, Citroen cars will be sold out of the same FCA showroom (atleast this particular showroom for sure) and they have been asked to prepare. The Kanakpura road branch even did remodelling of its space and looks a lot spacious now to sell atleast the C5 if not the others. The SA’s and other team members are going through a certain training for the same. Hopefully, Citroen is able to capitalise on the FCA network.

[TwerkyC0ffee]

If their cars are going to be CKD/CBU imports, is it safe to assume they'll not be structurally downgraded/compromised for India as compared to their international variants?

Considering the C5 Aircross and C3 are 4-star rated cars by Euro-NCAP, I really don't want to see Citroen pulling off a Kia Seltos here.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Citroens at some point in time were quirky, very unusual, innovative designs. Not necessarily my type of car, but I always enjoyed reading up on them, taking them for a drive if I had the chance.

In the '70's.Citroen's were weird. The 2Cv's, Dyane, Ami's were slow and the gears put very conventional people (read British) off. The DS attracted a few, the CX won on looks and ride but the weird stuff like button brakes, non-cancelling indicators ensured not too many folks bit the bullet. Th Safari's sold due to space and self levelling for towing.

My cousins in laws were sworn CX'ers, the swapped every two year and lost too much money. My cousins husband who took over the company, refused to give them a CX and replaced it with a Merc 260E. He took over the CX and ran it. An interesting fact was that he sold it for less than his wife 2 year older Golf!

Citroen got the blend correct with the BX and Xantia. I used a BX for a while and it was pretty good value and excellent for move stuff. The Xantia was quite classy with better finish. The XM was impressive but had the odd electric glitch. My cousin bought one for his sales manager (who had that BX) which ended up being money pit.

After that, Citroen started making bland versions of Peugeots which did not stand out at all. Very famous for discounting and that's it.