PROFILE: LINDA JACKSON

CITROEN CEO LINDA JACKSON IS IN HER COMFORT ZONE SPRUIKING BETTER FORTUNES FOR THE FRENCH MANUFACTURER IN AUSTRALIA

Citroen’s feisty CEO on the challenges of coming off a low base

I’M WITH TWO grandes dames of Citroen: The first is company CEO Linda Jackson whom I plan to interview while driving the second, a divine ’74 D Spécial. Unfortunately, the latter suffers from a minor starter motor issue and fails to fire. The crew and I resort to a good old-fashioned push start – “Un, deux, trois!”– not the easiest thing to do in a quaint column-shift manual car. The scenario has a touch of French farce about it; symbolic, perhaps, of the mechanical malaise that’s plagued Gallic car manufacturing for decades?

Jackson glides into the passenger seat and admits Citroen has been bedevilled by rumours of electrical gremlins.

“Maybe in the past we had some reliability issues. But you have to change people’s perceptions. Citroen now builds to the same standard of quality as the Germans and we have learnt from the Japanese. We offer a five-year warranty because we believe in our cars,” Jackson says.

With her blonde pixie-cut and smart tailoring, Jackson appears poised and on point; a reflection of her training as a ballet dancer. But no French insouciance here. Jackson is thoroughly British. She embodies her Motherland’s ethos: Keep Calm and Carry On! She’s more than happy to be chauffeured around Melbourne in the 45-year-old D Spécial with me as minder, driver and bodyguard.

Based in Paris, Jackson has been boss since 2014. In Citroen’s 100th year, she has the gargantuan task of steering the iconic brand through a complete renaissance.

“We sell fewer than 1.1 million vehicles. We want to grow that to 1.5 million by 2021, which is why we want to become more international,” Jackson says.

Our D Spécial, now running, receives plenty of attention cruising through the streets. It’s no secret, however, that Citroen’s a peripheral company struggling for relevancy in Australia. How can the French brand impose itself here and drive sales? According to Jackson, that will be achieved with its latest trifecta: a C3 hatchback and C3 and C5 Aircrosses; the future of Citroen planting the French brand firmly in the SUV market.

What is Citroen’s key selling point?

“Comfort,” Jackson says.

For a century Citroen’s patented hydropneumatic suspension has been superlative. The seats are couch-comfy. But I can’t help but feel a little disappointed with the sales pitch. ‘Comfort’ seems so banal for a brand that’s always embodied a certain je ne sais quoi.

After all, founder André-Gustave Citroen was a pioneer, an innovator, a radical, even. This engineer introduced mass production to France, front-wheel drive and the unitary body, not to mention those sensational swiveling headlamps. With extraordinary elan and ego he organised a plane to skywrite ‘Citroen’ over the 1922 Paris Air Show. He lit up the Eiffel Tower with his brand name.

People are familiar with the legendary DS (affectionately known as Déesse – or, goddess) and its sleek, futuristic body shape and innovative tech. It’s been praised for saving French President Charles de Gaulle’s life in ’62. After an assassination attempt, de Gaulle’s DS was riddled with bullet holes and had punctured tyres. But thanks in part to that legendary suspension, the driver made a getaway. The drama was depicted in the gripping 1973 film The Day of the Jackal.

Now that’s très cool.

But ‘comfort’?

“We think comfort is the new cool,” stresses Jackson. “In the past it was about suspension and seats. We need to take it further with a more modern approach. Now it’s about connectivity, big screens, storage spaces, light in the car, and air quality.”

Jackson sites three innovations that will improve ride quality: greater use of suspension featuring progressive hydraulic cushions, the use of structural bonding for increased body stiffness (allowing for softer damper rates), and memory-foam seats for better occupant support.

Jackson, 60, is the first British woman, and only the third woman ever, to run a globally significant automotive company. How does she navigate through a man’s world?

“You have to forget you’re a woman and just do a great job. In any profession it’s about whether you are credible. I’m lucky I really haven’t faced any discrimination; in fact, as one of only a few women in the industry, I stand out. Oh, and I never have to queue for the toilet!” Jackson adds with her sweet laugh.

It’s quite a career trajectory from a holiday job 40 years ago stapling invoices at Jaguar to the Citroen CEO. Autocar named Jackson the most influential British woman in the motor industry. “I would prefer to be recognised as the most influential person in the motor industry!” Jackson says.

As we float in the D Spécial to our destination – classic and collector car exhibition Motorclassica – I ask Jackson: Would founder AndréGustave Citroen be impressed with her achievement?

“I hope he’s looking down and saying: ‘Not bad, Linda, not bad.’

It’s like the rebirth of Citroen. We have a great past; now we’re building the future.”