Citroen C5 Aircross SUV priced at Rs 30L.

Chennai: Citroen launched its first product in India — C5 Aircross SUV — on Wednesday at Rs 29.9-31.9 lakh. The French carmakar will not export vehicles from India, instead it plans to export components under the highly localised C-Cube vehicle programme. Citroen is already exporting gearboxes to its European plants from India. The company said it will roll out one new product a year and that its C-Cube vehicles will have nearly 100% local content. 

“We are not going to export cars at this stage. We are exporting gearboxes to Europe from India. Our C-Cube platform will help us export components. C-Cube programme will be heavily localised which will irrigate other markets,” said Roland Bouchara, senior VP marketing & sales, Citroen India. 

While the C5 Aircross — positioned above the premium SUV and below the luxury — will be the flagship product, Citroen India will also roll out one new product every year and the C-Cube range of ‘multiple body styles’ are ‘not going to be premium price or positioning’. And while diesel is the focus for the C5 Aircross, the C-Cube products will have petrol engine options and “at the appropriate time when the market is ready we will bring hybrids and EVs,” said Bouchara. 

Citroen also does not have any announcements about the Ambassador brand which it acquired from CK Birla group. “We bought the name Ambassador and we will see the best way to use the name in the future,” he said. 

As for the global merger of Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot to create Stellantis, the synergies are currently being worked out, said Bouchara. “At the group level as well as in India we are working on it but the organisation is still to settle down and the India strategy has not yet been finalised but synergies are part of the focus,” he added. 

The company’s vehicle assembly factory at Thiruvallur has a capacity to crank out 1,00,000 vehicles while its Hosur plant can make 300,000 gearboxes a year. The company has put in a total Rs 2,000 crore investment including land, capex and R&D. Citroen is offering the C5 Aircross through online buying in 50 cities as well through 10 dealerships.