[arjab]

Yet to see a C5 driving by on the roads of Chennai or Kolkata, the two cities which I travel frequently.
Incidentally, spotted 3 facelifted Compass's in Chennai and 2 of them in Kolkata, during my transit from the respective city airport's to city centre's.

Remembered the old adage, "Joh dikhta hain, wohi beekta hain"; (loosely translated: "what you see, sells the most").
That certainly doesn't seem to be the case with the Double Chevron!

Hope the Gauls wake up, see sense and do some price rationalisation alongwith with network expansion. It's a good car. Doesn't deserve a premature death.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by arjab

Remembered the old adage, "Joh dikhta hain, wohi beekta hain"; (loosely translated: "what you see, sells the most").

Actually in this case its also the exact opposite. Joh bikta hai, woh dikhta hai. It’s a vicious cycle now and its likely the market has already perceived this as a dud.

Originally Posted by arjab

Hope the Gauls wake up, see sense and do some price rationalisation alongwith with network expansion. It's a good car. Doesn't deserve a premature death.

This is where they’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. Here’s a brand new entrant in the market trying to create first impressions. Without a price correction that car is not going anywhere. A price correction whether official or via discounts is going to go negatively with early buyers but is also going to impact how they are perceived in the market.

Finally, if early response is poor, its going to be a further challenge to expand network as any prospective dealer will be wary of investing in the brand. I’ve said it before - the Compass is already overpriced by 2-4 lakh at least when you think top of the line and the C5 never had any business being priced anything over the Compass. They’ve gone 4-5 lakh over the Compass as well. A pity since the product actually has several brilliant aspects - the engine / gearbox combo is absolutely brilliant and its ride quality fantastic.

Now its badly let down by an ill conceived pricing / launch strategy.

[Venkatesh]

Citroen C5 AirCross receives more than 1000 Bookings in India. The company has already despatched 325 vehicles from its plant in Chennai to various dealerships across the country to be delivered to customers.



Citroen has made first 2 home deliveries of the Citroen C5 Aircross in Surat and Chandigarh, who bought through the company's Buy Online portal .

Source

[yd_gli]

Originally Posted by arjab

Hope the Gauls wake up, see sense and do some price rationalisation alongwith with network expansion.

Quite the contrary dude. I just got a message from the dealer that the price for the C5 will be hiked from the 1st of August due to rising input costs.
When they only manage to sell 300-400 cars per month, how much can the inputs costs impact the business? Is it worth driving another nail into the coffin? The message was accompanied by some testimonials which didn't have any substance but some random talk on suspension and features. Looked more like a last ditch desperate effort to get the ball rolling.

[Raphel]

They need to sell at least 1000-2000 M-o-M basis to move forward with a positive outlook.

[Steelneo]

I used to Cross the factory enroute to my office everyday. Hardly spotted Aircross outside the factory or in the roads of Chennai.
The car offers good comfort and ticks in all areas. But what is the price?

Entering the market after KIA & MG, still they managed to price it heavily making it unaffordable to the mass people in the country.

Hope their upcoming models turns fortunes of the company. Already compact SUV is having heavy competition leaving very little space for new player and almost every OEM is having a successful model there. Let's see what will come out

[Venkatesh]

Originally Posted by Steelneo

Hardly spotted Aircross outside the factory or in the roads of Chennai.

I think even Citroen India is yet to find one C5 Aircross on roads.

Meanwhile Citroen India on Twitter



Link

[Kosfactor]

^ I happened to see one last week, first time after launch and I'm out and about on a regular basis. It was moving along side an X1, while they looked similar in size noone seems to have noticed Aircross as a new vehicle.

[sagpatel]

I have not seen a single one in Mumbai but have seen one in Vapi Gujarat (160 km from Mumbai).
If I am not wrong the first dealership which opened in Mumbai has closed down in just couple of months. Now another one in the name of PPS motors is coming up. They have started giving test drives while they finalise a showroom in suburbs. I don't know about service centre in Mumbai. I have booked a test drive for this Saturday morning at my house, lets see how it goes.

It has been 3-4 months and you don't have a dealership in a city like Mumbai, does not give good initial impressions about Citroen. If I like it I may genuinely consider this provided I get good discounts during festive season. Of course I will evaluate other options as well like Compass, Safari/Harrier, Tucson. I have already test driven Audi A4 and Q2. Q2 felt amazing to drive but misses out on many features like powered seats, touch screen. A4 is ruled out because of low GC.

[adneeraj]

Originally Posted by sagpatel

It has been 3-4 months and you don't have a dealership in a city like Mumbai, does not give good initial impressions about Citroen.

There's certainly one in Pune in Sus-Pashan - Bypass road. It's odd to learn they don't have a showroom in Mumbai region yet.

Originally Posted by sagpatel

I have already test driven Audi A4 and Q2. Q2 felt amazing to drive but misses out on many features like powered seats, touch screen. A4 is ruled out because of low GC.

Not sure which variant of Q2 you checked. The one that I test drove certainly had powered seats. I can't remember for sure if it had touch screen. But it had the digital cockpit. Just that the car is a size smaller than what I was looking for. A Q3 fits the bill perfectly, but will be launched only next year.

[sagpatel]

Originally Posted by adneeraj

Not sure which variant of Q2 you checked. The one that I test drove certainly had powered seats. \

Are you sure, because I think Q2 does not have powered seats, even reviews mention lack of powered seats. Also it does not have touch screen but has older generation MMI. All variants come with virtual digital cluster which is also old generation but was very nice (A4 has sharper virtual cockpit).

[adneeraj]

Originally Posted by sagpatel

Are you sure, because I think Q2 does not have powered seats, even reviews mention lack of powered seats. Also it does not have touch screen but has older generation MMI. All variants come with virtual digital cluster which is also old generation but was very nice (A4 has sharper virtual cockpit).

I stand corrected. Just called up Audi and confirmed. Even the technology pack does not come with powered seats. But it is a hoot to drive. Literally.
I find that to be a car for someone who maybe has a Q5/X3 size of a vehicle in the house and needs a fun car for the city.

[Hayek]

Saw the C5 Aircross in real life for the first time a couple of days ago. Was a Pune registered car - think someone visiting rather than a resident of our building. Fit and finish was fantastic - and it attracted more attention than the run of the mill Mercs and BMWs that are usually around.

[2000rpm]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

I think even Citroen India is yet to find one C5 Aircross on roads.

Meanwhile Citroen India on Twitter

Attachment 2184168

Link

I havent seen one so far in Mumbai!! Havent heard a single BHPian who has bought one. Safe to declare this a massive flop!

[avira_tk]

I saw about 8 of them near electronic city, Bangalore, because the FCA service station has converted the Jeep showroom to Citroen. The interesting thing was that while I was there, a potential customer turned up on a Superb for a test drive. That looks too be the target customer profile, moving from a Superb to a now fashionable SUV, VAG has no diesels and this is priced around the same range.

The car looks posh, the biggest problem is perception, you don't get the impression that Citroen will last in our market. The real need is a Creta size vehicle for volumes, the 30 lakhs segment is always going to be in the hundreds a month one at best.