Linda Jackson, director of Citroën, took advantage of Geneva to present the brand’s battle plan to the rafters internationally. In the spotlight: Latin America, Eurasia and the Middle East in particular. Silence on the other hand on its first market outside Europe, China and Southeast Asia, battered in 2017.
In 2017, Citroën achieved 26% of its sales outside Europe. A proportion that the brand would like to change to 45% by 2020. To do this, it focuses more particularly on three markets. Latin America, on the one hand, an area where sales rose by 13.8% in 2017 thanks to the launch in the second half of the assembly of the new Jumpy in Uruguay, marketed in Argentina and Brazil since autonomous.
69,000 units were sold, including the C-Elysées, C3 Aircross and Berlingo. To sustain this momentum in this second most important foreign market for her, the chevron brand will launch in production in Brazil the C4 Cactus in the second half of the year 2018 for commercialization in the major markets of the zone (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay , Paraguay or Colombia).
LCV for Eurasia
Second market in sight, Eurasia, in which Citroën sales increased by 33% in 2017. With a volume that remains confidential – 6,300 units in 2017. Spearhead of this growth to continue, the VUL. The chevron brand is betting on its new Jumpy, whose local production has just started in Russia. The Citroën SpaceTourer van will also be launched in the coming months.
Finally, third pillar for the builder, the Middle East. In this zone (including Africa), Citroën marketed 57,000 vehicles in 2015, a decline of 2.4%. To boost sales, Citroën is particularly focusing on a model, the C3, and a country, Iran and its car market estimated at 1.5 million vehicles in 2018.
Citroën bets on C3 and Iran
To conquer this country, Citroën relies on an agreement signed in October by PSA with Saipa, its historical partner. This agreement provides, via a joint venture, vehicle production at the Kashan site, as well as the creation of a network for the distribution of the brand to the rafters. Presented at the Tehran show in November, the C3 will be the first model produced in Kashan and will be marketed in the first half.
On the other hand, there is nothing new for the China and South-East Asia market, where the brand suffered a lot last year with 132,000 units sold, down 47.3% from 2016. The priority for the brand remains the restructuring of the network with a policy of inventory remediation. Citroën, meanwhile, is expecting a lot of its SUVs, the C5 Aircross, which recorded 56,000 sales in the fourth quarter of 201, and its C3 Aircross, launched in the second half.