Stellantis is raising production of Citroëns thanks to higher-than-expected demand for the C3 city car with the French brand overcoming quality snags and gaps in the product pipeline.
The manufacturer will as of next year produce an additional 40,000 C3s annually in Kragujevac, Serbia, bringing output of the urban vehicle and its C3 Aircross SUV sister version to 300,000, said the brand’s Chief Executive Officer Xavier Chardon.
So far, the vehicles were only assembled at scale in the group’s Trnava plant in Slovakia.
The Trnava site also assembles the Opel Frontera and “is completely saturated,” which limited C3 production, Chardon said in an interview in Paris.
“We are taking in more orders than what we can produce.”
Citroën comeback is helped by solid demand in Europe this year, though the region’s car sales still remain well below pre-pandemic levels.
Competition for mass-market buyers is stiff with Citroën going against three other in-house Stellantis brands — Peugeot, Fiat and Opel — alone.
Citroën new passenger car registrations in Europe rose during the third quarter thanks to demand for the C3 and C3 Aircross, according to market researcher Jato Dynamics.
In France, the C3’s electric version has a starting price of €14,990 (R298,482) for customers qualifying for a government social leasing plan.
The vehicle is profitable, said Chardon, who took up his position in June after roles at rival Volkswagen.
The group is also hiring 400 employees for its site in Rennes, western France, where it recently began assembling Citroën’s new C5 Aircross.
Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa is working on a revamp of global operations following profit declines and market-share losses.
For now, Stellantis has detailed a plan to boost its more profitable business in the US, funneling billions of investments there. In Europe, the manufacturer is struggling with overcapacity and recently slowed several sites.
In France alone, the company operates 12 plants.
As part of the review, Filosa is examining the positioning and product plan of the group’s 14 brands, which include the slow-selling Lancia and Maserati marques.
Newer to the Stellantis European business is Chinese partner Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology, whose vehicles Stellantis now sell through its own distribution networks in the region.
Citroën, founded in 1919 and known for models like the 2CV budget car, has suffered from market-share declines following quality issues and delays to the introduction of the new models.
To improve consumer confidence, it introduced an eight-year warranty package this year.
The manufacturer also took over from Maserati in Formula E and recently unveiled its new livery for the all-electric competition on the Champs Elysee in Paris.
“We are a bit of an outlier right now,” Chardon said. “it’s encouraging.”
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