French car, SUV brand plans to do this by increasing its focus on Tier III and Tier IV cities.
Citroen India has announced a network expansion programme that aims to establish 200 sales and service touchpoints across the country by the end of 2024, up from its current 58 touchpoints. This will help the French carmaker expand its network footprint by 400 percent in India.
- Citroen to increase network footprint to 200 from 58
- Expansion planned beyond Tier I and Tier II cities
- Aims to sell 2,000-2,500 units monthly by the end of the year
Citroen says that its major focus is not only Tier I and Tier II cities but also Tier III and Tier IV cities that will be strategically chosen for their proximity to Tier I and Tier II cities.
Stellantis India CEO and MD, Aditya Jairaj, revealed that the French brand’s awareness is currently sub-par from what they would like. Hence, Citroen would undertake brand building activities, and work on that is currently underway. Stellantis-owned Citroen entered the Indian market in 2021 with the flagship C5 Aircross SUV.
The company’s current portfolio in India now also includes the C3 hatchback, C3 Aircross seven-seater midsize SUV as well as the all-electric eC3. In February 2024, the Stellantis Group as a whole only managed to retail 558 vehicles in India. However, Jairaj revealed that Citroen alone is targeting to sell between 2,000-2,500 vehicles per month by the end of this year.
Jairaj also highlighted the fact that work still needs to be done at the dealership level. The company aims to have sales consultants with the ‘right mindset’ in place, with a focus on pushing test drives. “We are also trying to drive very specific behavior that will help us showcase our products to the consumers in order to increase that volume,” Jairaj said. Stellantis had recently also claimed that India is a market of strategic importance for the brand, despite not being profitable.