Citroen bets on 'Basalt' to boost India play
Citroen, which has had limited success with the models launched in India so far, is hoping to turn around its fortunes in the country with the Basalt — a mid-size coupe SUV that would go on sale in the second half of this year.
The latest offering from the Stellantis group firm captures the learnings it has had in a market it considers the toughest in the world, said Thierry Koskas, global brand CEO of Citroen.
«If you succeed in India, it means you can succeed everywhere in the world,» Koskas told ET. «I have been visiting India for 20 years and I am impressed by the rise of customer expectation in terms of features. The expectations of the customer are even higher than what you can see, for example, in Europe,» he said.
His comments come against the backdrop of the tepid response Citroen has got for its existing models — C3, e-C3, and C3 Aircross — because of the models lacking features like push start, sunroof, and automatic transmission. Many of these features are now standard across quite a few trim levels in rival brands.
The Basalt will be produced in India and will also be exported to South American markets.
Citroen's sales in India fell to 8,367 units in FY24 from 9,062 units in the previous year.
Stellantis, which sells models under the Chrysler, Jeep and Citroen brands, saw its sales collapse 56% year over year to 13,773 units in 2023-24, hugely underperforming the broader car market, data compiled by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed. Passenger vehicle sales in India rose
