2024 was the year in which Citroën completed the C-Cubed programme with the launch of its first SUV-coupé, the Basalt. This programme was originally intended to allow the brand to develop its presence in Latin America in order to be less dependent on Europe and ensure sustainable growth. So how did Citroën fare in Brazil in 2024? Here are some answers.
A year of contrasts
At first glance, Citroën's sales in Brazil were positive, with growth of 7.51% to 32,729 units and a market share of 1.68%, putting the brand in 12th place overall, ahead of Peugeot. However, it is necessary to take into account the growth of the Brazilian market, which will be 13.21% in 2024. Citroën therefore performed less well than the Brazilian market, although it had a wider range, as the brand did not include the C3 Aircross and Basalt in its 2023 registrations, as these two models were launched in 2024.
Specifically, sales of the C3 suffered a sharp drop of 20.69% in 2024 with 21,080 units sold and a seventh place in sales with a segment share of 3.79%. The small Citroën remains the best-selling French saloon in Brazil, ahead of the Peugeot 208, but it is losing sales to the benefit of Chinese brands in particular. For example, the 100% electric BYD Dolphin mini is ahead of the Citroën C3 in the sales rankings, with almost 9,000 more units sold over the year. This is enough for Citroën to seriously consider marketing an electric C3 in Brazil, a prototype of which was seen a few months ago before disappearing from the radar screens.
As for the C3 Aircross, it had disappointing sales of 8,284 units in 2024, which put it in 22nd place in Brazilian SUV sales, with the small consolation of being ahead of the Peugeot 2008 and much better than the C4 Cactus, which had a total of just 3,674 units sold in 2023. However, the C3 Aircross is still far behind the Renault Duster, for example, which has more than 20,000 units sold, despite the fact that Citroën's SUV is affordable, spacious and now available in a new 7-seater version.
Finally, it is not possible to draw any conclusions for the Basalt because it was launched very late in the year. However, Citroën's first SUV coupé sold 2,327 units, putting it in 36th place in terms of SUV sales in Brazil. The Basalt has already overtaken the C3 Aircross in the last two months of 2024, could it be the brand's big surprise in 2025?
Still a long way from the Citroën4ALL plan
In 2021, Citroën presented its Citroën4ALL development plan for Latin America, which aimed to achieve a 4% market share in this strategic region by the end of 2024 thanks to the launch of products from the C-Cubed programme. The same plan predicted that the brand would achieve a 4% market share in Brazil by the same date, and the least that can be said is that it has failed to achieve its objectives. It is impossible to know exactly why Citroën failed to reach this 4% market share, but it is clear that the performance of the C3 and C3 Aircross falls short of the brand's ambitions and even its potential, given their price. Perhaps the lack of equipment and features, similar to those in India, explains these poor sales, and the lack of updates for these two products in Latin America is surprising given that they have been improved in India since August 2024.
The arrival of Chinese brands with a lot of resources and technological products sold at affordable prices may also have hurt Citroën, which at the end of 2024 finds itself behind Cherry and BYD, which the brand was ahead of in 2023 and both of which recorded staggering growth on the Brazilian market in 2024, with BYD multiplying its sales by 4 to 76,402 units and Cherry doubling them to 60,929 units. While Citroën is still relatively sheltered from Chinese competition in Europe, the latter is hitting it hard in other countries, including Brazil.l.
In conclusion, Citroën ends 2024 on an apparently positive note with sales up by more than 7%, but this performance is below that of the market and, above all, well below what it should have been with the contribution of the C3 Aircross and Basalt. The brand should offer several new products on the Brazilian market in the coming months, including the Basalt equipped with the 1.3 Firefly engine, Basalt, which also looks promising if it continues this trend in 2025.
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