Don’t expect a replacement for today’s Citroen C5 X, with the French brand refocusing on smaller vehicles in volume segments.
Citroen CEO Thierry Koskas told Autocar the brand “needs to be in the main segments”, referring specifically to the B and C segments (think Toyota Yaris and Corolla) currently occupied by the C3 and C4, and not in “niche segments”.
He effectively ruled out a replacement for the current C5 X, which he said is “not performing badly but is in a segment that’s non-existent”.
It’s unclear when production of the current model will end. It entered production in 2021, arriving here in 2022.
Mr Koskas also indicated there would be no new-generation C1 to slot in between the Ami quadricycle and the current C3, as he said the production costs are the same for a C1 as they would be for a C3 which can be sold for a higher price.
The CEO expects most of Citroen’s sales to be of electric vehicles by 2030, but will keep combustion-powered and hybrid models around because “as a popular brand, we need to offer affordable mobility to all”.
He also said vehicles will have “new shapes that do not exist” and take design “risks”, but will ultimately be simple to own and drive.
“We’re clear with what we are, he said. “Affordable cars, simple cars, comfortable cars. We’re not technology Christmas trees.”
In the future, Citroen’s lineup will be simplified.
“There’s no magic number, but five or six models well positioned, really appealing to customers…” he said, adding, “I’d be happy with that.”
It currently offers in Europe the Ami, C3, C3 Aircross, C4, C5 Aircross, C5 X, as well as the Berlingo, Jumpy and Jumper vans and their people mover counterparts.
Citroen’s lineup in Australia is much simpler, consisting only of the C3, C4, C5 X and C5 Aircross.
The Chinese-built C5 X is technically the second best-selling vehicle in its segment in Australia… which consists only of two vehicles.
Citroen has sold 18 examples of the C5 X thus far this year in Australia, down 47.1 per cent on the same period last year. Skoda has sold more than five times as many Superbs.
The French brand has sold just 129 examples of its flagship, which blurs the lines between hatchback, wagon and SUV, since its 2022 launch.
Defunct Chinese C6
It’s nevertheless adding a plug-in hybrid version, of which customer deliveries will begin in the fourth quarter of 2024. However, it’ll be a special order-only vehicle.
The C5 X entered production in China four years after European production of its predecessor had ended, and returned the French brand to a part of the market it had been absent from everywhere but China.
There, Citroen had another large passenger car in the C6 sedan, but this vehicle ended production in 2023.
MORE: Everything Citroen C5 X
