INCHCAPE To Show Us How To Sell Citroens?

July 2020 sales, from CarAdvice:

Citroën:
Berlingo – 0
C3 – 4
C3 Aircross – 0
C4 Cactus – 0
C5 Aircross – 6
Dispatch – 0
Citroën Total – 10

Peugeot:
208 – 0
2008 – 2
308 – 19
3008 – 144
508 – 12
5008 – 24
Boxer – 5
Expert – 52
Partner – 32
Peugeot Total – 290

I'm told Citroën supply is "constrained"...
 
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SLC206 said:
July 2020 sales, from CarAdvice:

Citroën:
Berlingo – 0
C3 – 4
C3 Aircross – 0
C4 Cactus – 0
C5 Aircross – 6
Dispatch – 0
Citroën Total – 10
I'm told Citroën supply is "constrained"...
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Citroën have also bumped up the price of all models by $3000 a few days ago.

Supply does seem constrained. I’m curious as I think my insurance company is in the market for a new C3 as per my replacement policy (errrr yes, written off :( :(....) Browsing on CarSales and there’s very little stock to choose from (and I hope I can get the colours I want.........) Awaiting with great interest to see what my insurance company says.

The price increase is allegedly due to changes in currency. Generally supply is restricted - and unsurprisingly, didn’t PSA (sorry, Stellantis - too soon?!) have to close down some of their factories in Spain etc?

They are also supposed to be bringing the minor face-lift of the C3 to Australia later this year. Part of me would think a strategy of upping the price now, when nobody is buying cars and there’s little stock left, and then dropping the price when the new model arrives, would almost be sensible marketing. But who knows - the C3 couldn’t possibly get MORE expensive, surely?!
 
The last time I looked they were offering substantial discounts on Peugeots. The dollar has strengthened notably in the last few weeks so imports should be cheaper. The French factories were closed for a time but production is back up and the French market for June was back to normal. Except Renault sales are up and PSA sales down. Inchcape playing games to boost the woeful profit margin of the Australian operation at the expense of people who really want a Citroen.
 
Russell Hall said:
The last time I looked they were offering substantial discounts on Peugeots. The dollar has strengthened notably in the last few weeks so imports should be cheaper. The French factories were closed for a time but production is back up and the French market for June was back to normal. Except Renault sales are up and PSA sales down. Inchcape playing games to boost the woeful profit margin of the Australian operation at the expense of people who really want a Citroen.
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Or is the “supply constrained” because PCA/Inchcape haven’t ordered any new stock, and are planning to exit the market?
 
At least they're still on the market. Tomorrow the wind may change and there'll be a new management strategy.
 
tonyfelix said:
Citroën have also bumped up the price of all models by $3000 a few days ago.

Supply does seem constrained. I’m curious as I think my insurance company is in the market for a new C3 as per my replacement policy (errrr yes, written off :( :(....) Browsing on CarSales and there’s very little stock to choose from (and I hope I can get the colours I want.........) Awaiting with great interest to see what my insurance company says.

The price increase is allegedly due to changes in currency. Generally supply is restricted - and unsurprisingly, didn’t PSA (sorry, Stellantis - too soon?!) have to close down some of their factories in Spain etc?

They are also supposed to be bringing the minor face-lift of the C3 to Australia later this year. Part of me would think a strategy of upping the price now, when nobody is buying cars and there’s little stock left, and then dropping the price when the new model arrives, would almost be sensible marketing. But who knows - the C3 couldn’t possibly get MORE expensive, surely?!
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It wouldn't be a surprise if the facelifted C3 is cancelled for the Australian market. Renault has now canned the new Clio (and Zoe EV) after only announcing a few months before that it was on it's way here and Inchcape has gone all quiet on the new Peugeot 208. The way manufacturers are exiting the small car market in favour of SUV's, you can almost see the writing on the wall for the C3 and 208. Now with the Volkswagen T-Cross here, I'm wondering how long it'll be before the Polo is dropped and I wonder if Skoda will bring in the next Fabia?
 
The latest lot of train wreck figures for PSA (and less train wrecky for Renault, thanks to the Koleos and commercial vehicles)...

Citroen C3 1 (33)
Citroen C3 Aircross 2 (37)
Citroen C4 Cactus 0 (2)
Citroen C5 Aircross 3 (42)
Citroen Total 6 (114)

Peugeot 2008 1 (68)
Peugeot 208 0 (0)
Peugeot 3008 60 (630)
Peugeot 308 14 (111)
Peugeot 5008 19 (166)
Peugeot 508 19 (129)
Peugeot Boxer 4 (11)
Peugeot Expert 14 (154)
Peugeot Partner 16 (123)
Peugeot Total 147 (1392)

Renault Captur 2 (32)
Renault Clio 1 (23)
Renault Kadjar 47 (258)
Renault Kangoo 25 (324)
Renault Koleos 130 (926)
Renault Master 134 (839)
Renault Master Bus 1 (40)
Renault Megane 7 (153)
Renault Trafic 98 (1021)
Renault Zoe 59 (68)
Renault Total 504 (3684)
 
Peugeot should concentrate on their one seller the 3008. News that the French parent is increasing the price of its cars to Australia shows they do not intend to improve their Australian sales particularly as the reason given (currency fluctuation) does not stack up. The sales figures above were achieved with discounts of up to $8000 so price increases when implemented will be a real sales winner. Add in the lessons customers learned from the pandemic - buy locally and never across state borders - and the decision to contract the dealer network appears rather silly.
 
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I recently had a new C3 purchased on my behalf (insurance write-off replacement.)

a) I understood that there were only 3 new C3’s in the country to choose from.

b) the sales rep who I picked up the car from seemed optimistic about Citroën continuing here.

c) the sales rep suggested that he had a back-order of stock sitting on a dock in France that couldn’t get out of the country due to various COVID-related issues. For both Citroën and Peugeot.

d) there are so few new C3’s (MY20) left in Aus as they are next importing the facelifted MY21 C3 (as planned) but haven’t been able to get any out of France yet.

Take all of that as you will. Tough times for PSA in Australia, but tough times for everyone. Except for RAV 4 apparently.
 
Sales are down but some makes are doing reasonably well and some categories are quite strong with investment incentives. Parts of the economy are doing well. Of course Inchcape didn't think it worthwhile to maintain a regional dealer network and its the regions where demand is strong. No problem shipping tractors from Europe so I don't know what the problem is with cars. Perhaps Inchcape's cheque bounced?
 
In fear of sounding like a broken record, I just can't for the life of me, understand how it's become so bad for Citroen and Peugeot here? We all thought Inchcape were going to be the saviours, but have ended up being even worse than what Sime Darby were doing!
 
iLaguna said:
In fear of sounding like a broken record, I just can't for the life of me, understand how it's become so bad for Citroen and Peugeot here? We all thought Inchcape were going to be the saviours, but have ended up being even worse than what Sime Darby were doing!
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None of us really know what’s been going on.

A combination of unlucky timing and slow product, combined with a poor decision on dealers.

Given that sales were poor when Inchcape took over, they obviously felt they needed to stem a haemorrhage of money, by shrinking the dealer network. Unfortunately, aside from the Australian public’s general distrust of French cars, the other biggest impediment to new customers making the leap is the small dealer network. Time and time again you read stories on Whirlpool of people really wanting, e.g. a Grand Picasso; but getting spooked by the risk of a lack of support, or the simple fact that their nearest dealer is miles away.

The “distrust of French cars” was I think being adequately addressed with the 6-year warranty: a great way to put faith in your product. The current 5-years is of course pretty good too; but they had a moment where they dropped the 6, back to 3, before later announcing the 5. Some bad press at that time, and they should have been ready to go with the 5 years, it just looked bad.

But the dealer network was I think a short term benefit decision that ultimately has longer term consequences. The sad (and ultimately temporary) booting of Continental from the network, was an utterly bizarre decision given that Continental must have surely be responsible for a large chunk of those tiny new car sales figures each month. To take a dealership from people that genuinely care for and understand the product, and give instead to a Trivett down the road who probably had no interest at all - still a head scratcher that one.

Beyond that, any attempted “relaunch” seemed stymied by how long it takes to get product out here. The C5 Aircross was promised for such a long time and took such a long time to appear. They also don’t seem very good at staying ahead of ANCAP changes. Because the cars are slow getting here, by the time they do there’s always some safety thing that has since become standard, and these otherwise excellent and very safe cars end up with four stars instead of five.

We also live in a connected age - for the discerning customer (people like us who live on forums and follow brand news), by the time a model reaches Australia, we are well aware that there’s a new facelift launching over in Europe, or similar.

I also think they tend to mis-read the market here when it comes to engines. The C5 Aircross ought to have been imported with the bigger engine and 8-speed. I understand it was probably a price decision. But this is Australia not Europe, and although I don’t mind a small efficient engine, most Australian’s are used to a bit more, and the motoring press certainly are rarely impressed with efficiency. With the single engine imported for the C5 Aircross, it was inevitable that every Australian review would call the car underpowered. NZ imported the bigger engine, why not here?

Stink bugs added to the delays and issues with product availability; and then COVID has put a completely unexpected hole in everything anyway.

This is of course all just completely my uninformed uneducated opinionation.
 
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A difficult market situation, sales down over 28%, Victoria down 65% but Peugeot sales down around 56%. Some makes such as KIA and Mazda have done better than others and Chinese sales are up. Not to make too much of one month sales, there are distortions such as a back order of RAV4 hybrids arriving or all the Renault ZOE stock being registered as demos. Isuzu and HiLux utes are mid model change-over. But there are trends to note and they aren't too good for any of the French makes. There is some optimism the market will regain some of the losses later in the year but the car market had been in decline before the pandemic so importers and dealers may need to adjust to a new normal. It's been worse - 1930 the Australian car market slumped by 85% and stayed there the best part of three years.
 
tonyfelix said:
But the dealer network was I think a short term benefit decision that ultimately has longer term consequences. The sad (and ultimately temporary) booting of Continental from the network, was an utterly bizarre decision given that Continental must have surely be responsible for a large chunk of those tiny new car sales figures each month. To take a dealership from people that genuinely care for and understand the product, and give instead to a Trivett down the road who probably had no interest at all - still a head scratcher that one.

Beyond that, any attempted “relaunch” seemed stymied by how long it takes to get product out here. The C5 Aircross was promised for such a long time and took such a long time to appear. They also don’t seem very good at staying ahead of ANCAP changes. Because the cars are slow getting here, by the time they do there’s always some safety thing that has since become standard, and these otherwise excellent and very safe cars end up with four stars instead of five.

We also live in a connected age - for the discerning customer (people like us who live on forums and follow brand news), by the time a model reaches Australia, we are well aware that there’s a new facelift launching over in Europe, or similar.

I also think they tend to mis-read the market here when it comes to engines. The C5 Aircross ought to have been imported with the bigger engine and 8-speed. I understand it was probably a price decision. But this is Australia not Europe, and although I don’t mind a small efficient engine, most Australian’s are used to a bit more, and the motoring press certainly are rarely impressed with efficiency. With the single engine imported for the C5 Aircross, it was inevitable that every Australian review would call the car underpowered. NZ imported the bigger engine, why not here?

Stink bugs added to the delays and issues with product availability; and then COVID has put a completely unexpected hole in everything anyway.

This is of course all just completely my uninformed uneducated opinionation.
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I agree with your summation. Inchcape has destroyed much of the Citroen and Peugeot market presence in Australia through poor model choices and an arrogant attitude towards the dealer network. They've partly redeemed themselves by getting Continental back into the network but it will take a lot of time to rebuild sales momentum given the current lack of models. Perhaps the new C4 may reinvigorate some sales when it arrives. Let's hope they have some good marketing programs ready.

As much as I love Citroens (my family has purchased 11 of them over the past 20 years), it's difficult to understand the value proposition for the current C5 Aircross models available in Australia. They lack the distinctive Citroen features that have been available in the previous C5 models and the feature/specification level is too low compared with the competition. I think that's why the 3008 is selling better.
 
diesel pete said:
I agree with your summation. Inchcape has destroyed much of the Citroen and Peugeot market presence in Australia through poor model choices and an arrogant attitude towards the dealer network. They've partly redeemed themselves by getting Continental back into the network but it will take a lot of time to rebuild sales momentum given the current lack of models. Perhaps the new C4 may reinvigorate some sales when it arrives. Let's hope they have some good marketing programs ready.

As much as I love Citroens (my family has purchased 11 of them over the past 20 years), it's difficult to understand the value proposition for the current C5 Aircross models available in Australia. They lack the distinctive Citroen features that have been available in the previous C5 models and the feature/specification level is too low compared with the competition. I think that's why the 3008 is selling better.
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I agree that not screwing up specifications will also help.

Why, for example, are they still selling the 121kW engine with six speed auto and no active cruise (other than Australia's slack emissions standards), when NZ are getting a 133kW donk with eight speed auto and active cruise? No active cruise control in this day and age on a vehicle that expensive is a glaring omission.

We can only hope that they spec and price the C4 right...
 
tonyfelix said:
.... they tend to mis-read the market here when it comes to engines. The C5 Aircross ought to have been imported with the bigger engine and 8-speed. I understand it was probably a price decision. But this is Australia not Europe, and although I don’t mind a small efficient engine, most Australian’s are used to a bit more, and the motoring press certainly are rarely impressed with efficiency. With the single engine imported for the C5 Aircross, it was inevitable that every Australian review would call the car underpowered. ....
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Yep, more engine options (more power) would make them more attractive, as would opening rear windows and some buttons on the dash, not all driven through the slow touch screen central control.

PSA, and especially Citroen, are not at the peak of their game. Citroens have lost that quirkiness that once made them special and desirable to a limited market.
SUV's are taking over the Australian market, like it or not. Importers are quitting sedans and wagons, leaving them as the only option.
There are those of us who like wagons with a decent engine and a proper auto box (8 speeds would be nice).
 
CC1701 said:
Yep, more engine options (more power) would make them more attractive, as would opening rear windows and some buttons on the dash, not all driven through the slow touch screen central control.

PSA, and especially Citroen, are not at the peak of their game. Citroens have lost that quirkiness that once made them special and desirable to a limited market.
SUV's are taking over the Australian market, like it or not. Importers are quitting sedans and wagons, leaving them as the only option.
There are those of us who like wagons with a decent engine and a proper auto box (8 speeds would be nice).
Click to expand...
Sounds like you just need to wait for PSA to rebadge the Holden Commodore wagon to a Peugeot or Citroen, and you'll get your wagon, and one extra cog in your (proper auto) box than you were hoping for!
 
FiveSoFar said:
Sounds like you just need to wait for PSA to rebadge the Holden Commodore wagon to a Peugeot or Citroen, and you'll get your wagon, and one extra cog in your (proper auto) box than you were hoping for!
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Never really been interested holden commodore, but the last one (opel) was certainly very interesting and the right kind of spec. V6 AWD wagon - yes please. Shame they will depreciate faster than a french car.

Even the last astra was kind of interesting, except for the asthmatic little engine. They were throwing them away for about 20 grand for a high spec model. Good deal, if you can live with an 'economy' engine, just like the small PSA offerings.
 
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