Citroen: Citroen revamping India strategy to boost sluggish sales

A relatively new entrant to the Indian car market, Citroen plans to upgrade its entire portfolio, expand sales and service network by over threefold, and launch a new vehicle over the next one year, Aditya Jairaj, managing director and CEO, Stellantis India told ET in his first interview since taking charge on January 1.

Stellantis, the world’s third largest carmaker, sells the Jeep and Citroen brands in India. The company has done extensive customer clinics over the last few months to realign its business strategy for expanding its footprint in the country.

Stating India has emerged as one of the world’s fastest growing car markets since the pandemic, Jairaj said, “It is an important market for us. We have identified four key pillars which includes enhancing our product range, growing our network and undertaking a series of brand building exercises to grow volumes here.”

Jairaj declined to disclose Citroen’s market share target in India for the mid-term but asserted that the company is committed to the Indian market.

“You will see continuous updates from the product perspective. We want to further build on the C-Cube platform (and introduce more products). We are working on setting up a total 200 sales and service touch points over the next one year, from the current 58. This will help us cover 80% of the market in India and set the foundation for the next phase of growth beyond 2025-2026”, he said. Citroen recently announced fresh investments of Rs 2,000 crore in India for various initiatives including introducing new vehicles with petrol as well as electric powertrains.Jairaj said the company wants to stay at the forefront of the EV segment in the country. “We are among the top 5 EV brands in India and we will ensure that we are at the forefront in this segment. Electric vehicles thrive in stop and go traffic. If we can overcome the initial hurdle of range anxiety among customers here, there is no reason why they should not opt for electric given excellent total cost of ownership”, he said.

Citroen India currently sells the C3 hatchback with petrol and electric powertrain options. It launched SUV C3 Aircross last year to challenge Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and Hyundai Creta, among others. But these products have so far met with limited success.

The fourth model will be launched later this calendar year.

Citroen has invested Euros 100 million to localise the C-Cube platform for developing three models to cater to specific requirements of Indian buyers.

“The demographics of the Indian market where 65% of consumers are aged less than 35 years present a massive opportunity to grow. Even if there are temporary blips, the demand momentum (in the market here) will remain. We definitely need to and will grow sales. But we intend to do the same in a profitable manner,” he said.