Inchcape Brings Down the Axe on Citroën after 100 Years

Citroën to Leave Australia, killed off by Inchcape.

Many had wondered how long ailing Citroën could limp along as sales continued to evaporate. Wonder no more. The axe has finally fallen on the premium French car maker, with sales to cease in Australia from November the 1^stafter a 100 years. The Australian market is the only one where Peugeot and Citroën are a joint operation as Peugeot Citroën, but even that arrangement, and a reduction in range, was not enough to save the innovative car maker from ignominy.

This isn’t a recent revelation, Citroën has suffered the mismanagement of several successive importers including Sime Darby and Ateco. The beloved French brand received almost no interest with a GM being hard to find. Adding to its woes, the new PR manager left after only a week citing “previous commitments” as the reason for a sudden departure. Could the pending demise of one of the brands have been too heavy a burden for a new appointee?

When Inchcape took on Peugeot and Citroën, it opted not to import DS Automobiles (previously been a Citroën sub-brand). The tragedy of a century of motoring genius lost in a series of backroom blunders will appall Francophiles. With Citroën gone and Peugeot floundering, it is clear that Inchcape is concentrating on solely on Subaru.

The Numbers

Citroën sales are down over a third year to date, moving a miserable 87 vehicles in 7 months (of which 13 were last month). Sales for both brands have been sliding steadily for years, with Peugeot moving only 1341 vehicles (down from over 8,000 at its high in 2007) to the end of July, placing it firmly in the same firing line.

ABOVE: Peugeot Citroen GM David Owen, Citroen Models

To put that in perspective, premium badges Porsche sold 3866 units, and Mini moved 2010 cars, Tesla (has ceased reporting to FCAI and no longer appears on VFacts) sold 23,116 Model 3 and Model Y cars and Chevrolet, sold 2361 Stingrays and Silverados, also at a premium price. Then there are luxury Chinese brands like Volvo and Polestar (latter also stopped reporting sales to FCAI), as well as new badges such as Zeekr, who further challenge the status quo.

Then there are the entry level models also dominated by Chinese brands like MG (28694), BYD (11334), Chery (5512), GWM (24843).

Many luxury brands sell fewer than 300 cars a year but larger margins keep them viable, and entry level cars sell on volume. Citroën and Peugeot are neither.

Despite a market being up over all, Citroën couldn’t meet customer expectation.

In fact, all Stellantis brands find it hard to keep their tenuous foothold in one of the most open and complex automotive sales environments in the world.

Peugeot Citroën pegged Citroën as the posher of the two French car makers and priced them accordingly. The public simply failed to accept that marketing stance, now Peugeot is left standing alone.

Punters will be watching carefully as Peugeot plots a tentative path as a solo act.

Many brands have quit Australia.

Without any local manufacturing protection, the market is at the whim of the fickle buyer, as Holden found to its chargrin.

Stellantis brands include:

Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Peugeot, Ram Trucks, and Vauxhall

Imported currently by Stellantis: Fiat 500/Abarth (328), Fiat professional (665), Jeep (1438), Alfa Romeo (406)
Imported currently by ATECO: RAM (2347), Maserati (222)
Imported currently by Inchcape: Peugeot (1341), Citroën (87)

Historical Stellantis brands withdrawn from Australia (prior to the amalgamation of Peugeot-Citroën and Fiat-Chrysler):

Chrysler, Dodge, Opel, DS, Lancia, Vauxhall

Other brands are worth watching.

Cupra has failed to make much of a dent with a disappointing 1273 cars sold for the first 6 months, down almost 30% on this time last year. It leverages Volkswagen’s infrastructure so is slightly more robust.

As more and more Chinese brands begin to dominate the Australian landscape, more mastheads will fall. Although the Europeans consider themselves immune they are not. Likewise, the Japanese brands have been painfully slow to take up the EV mantle .

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