Before the summer holidays, Citroën announced that it was reviewing its range of paint finishes to reduce it from 5 to 3. From the start of the school year in September, the brand will make this change to its range, taking the opportunity to introduce new finishes and drastically reduce prices in some countries. 

A narrow range

This is another emerging trend in the automotive industry, the reduction of diversity, which is very costly in terms of production time and logistics. This fundamental trend, which is affecting all manufacturers, is also affecting Citroën, which went from five trim levels to just three last September. These three finishes will be available across the entire range, accompanied by a range of options, again reduced and grouped into a maximum of 5 packs per finish, excluding personalisation elements.

At the beginning of September, the brand unveiled its new finishes, which will now be called You, Plus and Max, names that are very direct and understandable to all consumers, as the brand intends to generalise these new names across all of its products.

This redefinition of the range allows Citroën to present a clearer offer, making it easier to understand the various upgrades and options available to the customer, without impoverishing the content on offer, and is based on a common thread running through all levels, which aims to highlight style and comfort, true Citroën hallmarks.

More accessible prices in some countries

This desire for simplification also promotes competitive prices and improved delivery times by reducing the diversity that creates complexity. This approach also responds to new consumer habits, in particular the growth of online sales, where consumers can configure their car at any time and continue the purchase process at the dealership or even do everything directly on the Internet. . But this simplification of the offer is complemented by the brand's desire to offer a fairer and more balanced pricing policy. To this end, the brand is launching a test programme in Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Germany for a "fair price" policy with a net price for the entire relevant market.

For example, in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the brand has made very significant price reductions across its entire range, averaging up to -13% in Germany, with price reductions ranging from €2,450 on the C3 to €6,000 on the C5 Aircross. In Switzerland, the brand has made the same adjustments with an average reduction of 13%, i.e. from CHF 3,000 (€ 2,800) for the C3 to CHF 8,800 (€ 8,300) for the C5 Aircross. ) for the C5 Aircross. This price reduction will allow the brand to cancel out the numerous increases it has made in 2021 and 2022 and return to more acceptable levels, which should have an impact on sales; we are already seeing this in Germany, where the brand is recording one of the strongest market growths in October and November.

In short, a reduction in supply allows production to be optimised, stock management to be simplified and costs to be better controlled, so that consumers can benefit from lower prices and, above all, shorter delivery times. short. This is an essential element for Citroën, which aims to be a popular brand with the ambition of providing concrete answers to social issues. The brand is part of a fair pricing policy approach and intends to implement a pricing policy in the coming months that aims to reduce the arbitrary part of promotions in favour of a more transparent, attractive and identical pricing policy depending on the sales channel.