Citroen is making a bid to grow outside Europe with the New C3, a small hatchback planned for the Indian and South American markets that will be launched in the first half of 2023. Citroen CEO Vincent Cobee said the Stellantis brand is seeking to boost its non-European sales to 30 percent from 15 percent currently. Stellantis already has the Jeep and Citroen brands in India. While the latter only has the C5 Aircross SUV at the moment, to be joined by the C3 hatchback this June, there’s more to come from the French automaker.
Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis has indicated in his roadmap for India that there’s a complete host of models in the pipeline, including a compact EV. “From day one, electrification was part of the Smart Car or C Cubed plans. India will get its first EV in 2023. The vehicle is engineered in India for the Indian market. We are not only going to bring compact cars less than 4 metres, you will have people movers to crossover products in India and (for) all these products, EVs will be an alternative offered,” said Carlos Tavares.
Analysts expect India will pass Germany and Japan in the next decade to become the third-largest market for electric vehicles after China and the U.S. “We have selected Jeep and Citroen to lead our points of focus in the Indian market so that we learn everything we need to learn. The two brands are strong opportunities. Jeep has been extremely successful around the world in terms of using electrified powertrains that we label 4xe,” said Tavares. According to him, Jeep would transition “between now to cut to a few years from PHEV to pure EV.”
The New C3 has a family resemblance to the C3 hatchback and C3 Aircross SUV for the European market. With more ground clearance, short overhangs, and steeper approach and departure angles, it is designed to accommodate rougher roads like in India. Citroen has not provided any information on powertrains yet, but Citroen CEO Vincent Cobee said the New C3 used a significant amount of components from Stellantis' CMP platform, which underpins newer small cars such as the Peugeot 208 and Opel/Vauxhall Corsa (but not the existing C3 models). Citroen currently sells the C5 Aircross compact SUV in India, although it is assembled from parts exported from Europe.
The New C3 will contend in India's most popular segment, with small cars holding a market share of nearly 25 percent. The New C3, which was largely designed and developed in India, is just under 4,000 mm long to ensure that it falls into a lower vehicle tax category in the market. It will be built in Chennai, with 90 percent local parts integration, as part of a joint venture between Stellantis and the CK Birla Group.
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