Citroen’s Plans For Indian Market Revealed: Product Details & Launch Timeline

Citroen has revealed its plans for the Indian market. The well-known French automotive manufacturer has been testing the C5 Aircross in India and the midsize SUV could very well be the first product from Citroen for the Indian market.

According to a report on CarDekho, Citroen will not be developing new cars for the Indian market but will adapt cars and platforms that are already on sale in the international market to suit Indian requirements.

Citroen has not officially confirmed what car would be launched in the Indian market and nor has the company spoken about the body-type of the car it is looking to launch in the Indian market. But India is inherently an SUV-loving country. It could be due to the on-road presence of an SUV or the utility and practical nature or due to our ever so unforgiving roads.

Whatsoever may the reason, it is very clear that we love SUVs and all the automotive companies entering the Indian market have noticed the same. Kia Motor India's first product is going to be a compact SUV, MG Motor India's first product is going to be a mid-size SUV and it makes sense for Citroen too, to launch a mid-size SUV and the C5 Aircross is just that.

The report quotes Linda Jackson, CEO of Citroen as saying, "I will say this, I don't want to make a model for India. I want to make international models that will be relevant for the Indian market."

That statement very clearly indicates Citroen's stand on the Indian market. Citroen's first product for India will be launched in 2021 and the company will then go on to launch the second product in 2022.

Linda was further quoted as saying, "C4 is very, very popular in the Europe but it's a C-segment saloon and we decided that in South America that we would take the C4. But when you look at the market there is no segment, the C-segment, it really doesn't exist, but SUV does."

"So what we decided to do was that we would take the C4 Cactus, as the platform, the body, and redesign it to be an SUV and put all of the SUV markers that were relevant for the South American market. So.. we've taken a model that is a world model, but we've adapted it slightly to be able to be relevant to the market and that's exactly what we will do with India."

Thoughts On Citroen's Plans For Indian Market Revealed

Going by the vision and clarity the CEO of Citroen has for India, the company's strategy has been made clear to us. But the question remains as to how exactly this strategy would be implemented. Would the vehicles be built locally, assembled as a CKD or would it be brought down as a completely built unit, is something that needs to be seen as it unfolds.

Source: CarDekho