Citroen will not limit petrol cars to hit electric sales mix targets
New Citroën ë-C3 aims to address customer concerns around electric car pricing
French brand wants to create "natural" demand for its EVs rather than forcing buyers into them
Citroën has no plans to restrict sales of combustion cars in order to increase its electric car mix, and will instead aim to create "natural" demand for its EVs.
Speaking to Autocar at the Paris motor show, the French brand's CEO Thierry Koskas said it would be a "shame" to stop or delay sales of petrol cars in order to comply with EU fleet emission rules and the UK's zero-emission vehicle mandate.
Instead, Citroën will seek to make its electric cars as usable as possible, while better educating customers about the nature of owning them.
Koskas revealed that the firm currently has an EV sales mix of just 10% in Europe – far short of the levels required by the EU and UKs' respective electrified vehicle regulations. But, he added, that has been achieved with "a low offer in terms of EVs", with no electric derivative of the outgoing C3 and C5 Aircross models.
Citroën increased its European market share by 4.1 percentage points in the first half of 2024, with that growth led mainly by sales of the previous-generation, petrol-powered C3, which "had an outstanding end of life". The C4, meanwhile, is Europe's second most popular C-segment hatchback, he said.
Asked if Citroën can maintain that growth trajectory with the introduction of inevitably more expensive electric cars, and the retirement of the £15k C3, Koskas said simply: "We have to."
"At the end of the day," he added, "we want to be able to answer mobility needs while complying with the ZEV mandate in the UK and the CO2 regulations in Europe. So I need to generate a natural demand for electric vehicles."
Electric vehicle uptake is stifled, Koskas says, because of customer concerns around price, range and charging infrastructure.
The brand is tackling price concerns with the introduction of the new e-C3, which is shortly to receive a new 124-mile variant for less than €20,000 (£17,000), and Koskas said the ranges of its larger electric cars are competitive in their segments.
Concerns around charging infrastructure are not Citroën's "direct responsibility", he said.
Driving EV uptake is chiefly a question of better educating customers and dealers, said Koskas.
"A few years ago, they were not used to selling electric cars. Tomorrow, they have to. But I see that things are really starting to change - they are more and more at ease selling electric cars.
"So I really think that things are moving, because we don't want to reach a point where we would restrict the demand or production of ICE vehicles, because we're not selling enough electric."
With the introduction of the next-generation C5 Aircross next year, Citroën will have an electric version of each of its models, which Koskas predicts will be instrumental in boosting its EV mix.
This is particularly true for the e-C3, for which the firm has taken some 25,000 orders already - half of the total C3 order bank. Naturally, Koskas estimated, the other models will not be so equally divided, but the C3 will "pull up the BEV mix because it's very attractive as a BEV, and that will help the overall percentage, not only for Citroen but also Stellantis."