Rather than sink money into reversing its dramatic sales slide, Stellantis has confirmed it will pull the Citroën brand out of Australia in November
If you’ve been wondering what the giant multinational carmaker Stellantis had planned for turning around its iconic Citroën brand in Australia, here’s your answer: Nothing.
For context, Citroën’s year-to-date sales (end of July) have reached just 87 vehicles – down from 135 at the same time last year – while 2023 finished on a mere 228 for the entire year.
The brand’s local line-up is limited to the compact Citroen C3 hatch, the small high-riding C4 ‘sportback’ sedan, the midsized C5 Aircross SUV and the newly launched C5 X. Year to date, the brand has sold just 14 examples of the C3, 18 of C4, 24 of C5 Aircross and 31 of C5 X.
If you hadn’t seen its flagging sales numbers and model line-up over the past decade, you’d be forgiven for seeing the end of Citroën’s 101-year presence in Australia as stupéfiant.
Indeed, even ignoring its current circumstances, you could rightly be surprised that Stellantis would simply give up.
The decision means the remaining Stellantis brands in Australia are Citroën’s long-time stablemate and confrère Peugeot, along with the badges that joined the family when Groupe PSA took over Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: Alfa Romeo, Fiat (and Abarth), Jeep and Ram Trucks. Chrysler was dropped from Australia in 2021.
Of those, only Alfa, Fiat and Jeep are managed directly by Stellantis in Melbourne, while Peugeot remains – for now – distributed by Sydney-based Inchcape, which also handles Subaru in Australia.
Peugeot and Citroën had previously been distributed here by Sime Darby, but Inchcape took over the contract in 2017. Given its massive success with Subaru, it had been assumed the local business and its French partner had plans to grow the retail and on-road presence of Peugeot and Citroën.
David Owen, General Manager Citroën Australia, said: “The decision for Citroën Australia to cease new vehicle sales was not made lightly; it was made after careful consideration of the current and future product available for our country, in the context of the local market and the preferences and requirements of Australian new vehicle buyers.”
Recent global reveals for the Citroën brand have been fairly limited, with only the E-C3 appearing in the past year as a new-generation offering – and the local arm confirmed early that it wouldn’t be coming to Australia.
Indeed, Citroen confirmed in early 2023 that most of its upcoming new models would be electric, many of them “aggressively priced” for Europe and probably only available in left-hand drive – a situation not ideal for any brand in Australia.
Importantly, Citroën will continue to maintain Australian cars through its 35 authorised service centres, with full access to factory-trained technicians and genuine parts.
The brand has also confirmed all orders placed before November 1 – yes, it’s still taking orders right up until the end – will be fulfilled, and its 5-year/unlimited-km warranty will be honoured.
Sister brand Peugeot was not mentioned in today’s announcement, but with a more substantial 1341 year-to-date sales, it is likely safe – although, with last year’s July-end sales hitting 1474, Stellantis will be on Inchcape to lift its game.
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