Citroen gunning to be Europe's no. 3 automaker?
Jean-Marc Gales, who has been running Citroën since leaving Mercedes-Benz in February, is aiming make Citroën Europe's third-largest brand. During a recent interview with an Italian newspaper, Gales stressed the importance of collaborating with other automakers and focusing on product, not just volume. "It's not important for us to produce 6 or 7 million cars to survive... We have another strategy, we believe in alliances, we cooperate with Ford and BMW on engines and gears, the most expensive parts to develop in a car," Gales said.Even with the mentioned alliance with Fiat S.p.A. for commercial vehicles and vans, Gales is going to have his work cut out for him. Citroën is currently ranked seventh in European sales, behind sixth-ranked Peugeot. Far above both brands is Volkswagen, currently holding the spot on the top podium.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Avinash machado 10:05AM (5/25/2009)
When automakers try to become bigger in a short period of time, it could lead to a decline in quality and reliability.
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Sam 10:27AM (5/25/2009)
They have been steadily improving for a while. My C4 is a lovely car.
Colin Smith 10:43AM (5/25/2009)
Citroen/Peugeot I suppose is meant. Why not? Everything is in flux at the moment and the makers of cheap, reliable, economical cars will do well. Especially economical!
The Japanese used to major on reliability and gizmos, and nobody noticed how dreary they were to look at and drive (usually). Nothing's changed, except that European manufacturers have improved reliability and are producing ever more interesting cars. The current Toyota line up induces coma, and the rest of the orientals are really no better. Nobody buys a Japanese or Korean car based on emotion, so why can't Citroen improve market share?
It's economy, stupid. Bring extremely economical and cleverly designed cars to market and buyers will jump at them. In a year or two oil could be at £200 a barrel, plus. Lots of luxury makers went to the wall in the thirties; I think it will be the same this time round.
If demand destruction continues at present levels all bets are off.
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Kitko 10:44AM (5/25/2009)
"Citroën is currently ranked seventh in European sales, behind sixth-ranked Peugeot."
That's nice, but Citroen's effort is a bit of cannibalistic in the nature since they're siblings forming the PSA and their cars share all mechanical parts and, as a consequence, abysmal reliability with Citroen cars filling in bottoms of reliability tables.
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Erik 2:39AM (5/28/2009)
ADAC ranked the Citroen C4 Picasso -one of the more recent modells in the brand line-up- as the most reliable car within his cathegory. So quality is something also Citroen can deliver...
Jared 2:08PM (5/25/2009)
Jean-Marc, put down the crack pipe and step away from the desk.
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Nick 1:40AM (5/26/2009)
My friend's C4's motor exploded on a flat road.
Citroen paid for the repairs even if it was out of warranty, which is cool.
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