“Stellantis is a huge opportunity for PSA and FCA”
Speaking to Citroen India’s Senior VPs Roland Bouchara (SVP sales and marketing) Eric Apode (SVP) and Saurabh Vatsa (Sr director, marketing) on the C5 Aircross, dealership ramp-up, the C-Cubed program and synergies with FCA
Evo India: Was 2020 was a pause year for Citroen in India?
Roland Bouchara: 2020 was not a pause. We were very busy preparing for 2021. Also, 2021 is a very important year because we are launching the Citroen brand here in India along with a product, the C5 Aircross and we’re launching a network too. 2021 is the year we kick off our adventures here in India.
Eric Apode: We are launching the complete ecosystem of PSA Group in India. We have the powertrain plant, assembly plant, engineering centre and purchasing centre. Don’t think due to Covid we made a pause, it’s the contrary. Saurabh Vatsa: I think what is important is, all the communication activities go live which is why we’re sitting with you.
EI: With the new Stellantis organisation, what happens in India? Will there be synergies with FCA?
EA: As the PSA organisation, so far we have more than one thousand people already working in India. Stellantis was created only two weeks ago and it is a huge opportunity for PSA and FCA. We are thinking about it all and we will be working in synergy when it comes to purchasing and other such back-end processes. It’s a huge opportunity for both groups as Stellantis is now the fourth largest group in the world and we are extremely excited to have this opportunity.
EI: Have the initial conversations started? EA: Yes, sure. Since the deal was signed and approved, yes.
EI: Why the C5 Aircross as your launch vehicle in India?
RB: Citroen in India was part of the Pass To Pass plan announced by [former PSA CEO] Carlos Tavares who decided Peugeot going to the United States, Opel to Russia and Citroen to India, which was the internationalisation plan of Groupe PSA which is now Stellantis.
India is a big country and we believe it will hit four to five million [sales volume] in the next four to five years which means that India will be one among the top five countries and that is the reason why we want to be here. Why C5 SUV? That is because introducing a brand is never easy, awareness is quite low and we want to build a very solid and recognisable USP, and nothing better than Citroen’s flagship that can
demonstrate our unmatched comfort, which is the legendary USP of Citroen.
Well-being, being safe and secure and comfortable is very important today than it was yesterday. And that is what we are offering to our customers.
EA: It has been based on comfort and hi-tech innovation and you could see the French touch which is the absolute characteristic of this car.
Citroen has been around for more than 100 years now and right from the start it was all about comfort. With the cars like Traction, 2CV, DS, all the cars had a special emphasis on comfort. All over the world, when you think of Citroen, you think of comfort. That’s why we should be true to our legacy and our rich heritage.
SV: Especially in a market where nobody is talking about comfort. They talk about pricing, features, performance, luxury, but unfortunately no one is talking about comfort, which is good for us.
Evo: Let’s talk about your network.
RB: We are going to start with ten dealers which are located in prime cities in which we think the C5 will have a good start. And we are almost ready for kick off. We are very proud of these dealers who also share our vision. In terms of dealer network ramp-up, we are already heading towards developing the network for phase two for the next car coming soon. The most important part is to make sure that the dealer network ramp-up aligns with the market
EI: Let’s talk about the C-Cubed program you have announced
EA: We have about one thousand people in Chennai taking care of this programme. This programme is extremely interesting, very Citroen, very innovative cars but of course not in the same segment as the C5 Aircross. It is an extremely interesting range of products and these products will also be launched in different parts of the world. Engineering is under the leadership of PSA of course with the cooperation of TCS. The whole programme will be in Thiruvallur. Also, we will even ramp up the production and increase the level of localisation very soon.
The powertrain plant in Hosur has been active for two years now. We’ve started to export the first gearboxes. The production is ramping up and in the future this powertrain plant will be the centre of the overall manufacturing network in PSA.
“WE SEEK PEOPLE WHO ENJOY BOTH DRIVING AND COMFORT”
EI: What is the localisation of the C5 Aircross EA: We have localised the engine, being assembled in the Hosur plant. The axles are also being localised here and the car is finally assembled in the Thiruvallur assembly plant and then the quality control and quality checks are done before delivering it to dealers.
EI: The segment the C5 Aircross will go into isn’t seeing much action
SV: The segment is very quiet which is where we are entering. First, we will be communicating very clearly with the buyer. Like Roland mentioned, this is the flagship SUV. Therefore, it is important for us to establish the Citroen brand first and number two, the vehicle. We just started the brand campaign, it is not the product campaign, it will be supported by the product campaign. The pre-booking goes live on the first of March and then we will announce the prices on April 7. But the idea is that since it is the launch of the brand and establishing a new product, I don’t think we will be quiet. There will be action for sure in this segment, especially from our end.
EI: Who is your target?
SV: We definitely seek people who enjoy driving and people who enjoy comfort and who are no longer shy to say that it is not luxury we’re looking at, it is comfort, with charm. Charm is all about the styling of the vehicle because it is so differentiated. It is the French charm in terms of the design language. It is not just a niche that we’re going after.