Citroen's global boss to make surprise Australian visit

Citroen’s global chief executive will make an unprecedented Australian visit next week to celebrate the French brand’s centenary and assess its future in the local market.

Less than one month after the head of Peugeot made a flying Sydney visit, its sister company’s chief Linda Jackson (pictured) will appear at next week’s Motorclassica event in Melbourne before with a whirlwind tour of dealers in order to gauge future growth potential for Citroen in Australia.

Citroen will be one of the highlighted marques at this year’s Motorclassica show next week to mark its birth in 1919.

Jackson’s visit has in part been prompted by increasing uncertainties in other global markets, often by unforeseen events such as Brexit or the US-China trade war. As such, the English-born executive believes Citroen could no longer risk “putting all its eggs in one basket”.

“Clearly, Australia is a market where Citroën is currently producing quite modest sales volumes, but it precisely means that we have a potential to do better in the future. That's why I’ve come here,” Jackson told carsales this week.

“There is nothing better than coming into the field to take the pulse of the market and understand the situation of the local teams, in order to set up pragmatic and coherent action plans.”

Citroen’s Australian sales have dipped 22 per cent year-to-date with a modest 323 sales in the first nine months of the year, according to official VFACTs data.

However, Jackson remains buoyant about the brand’s potential given the recent releases of the C3 Aircross and the C5 Aircross.

“Despite the Australian market downturn, our passenger car sales are growing and we are improving our market share. This will continue in the second half of the year and into 2020 through our SUV offensive with C3 Aircross SUV and C5 Aircross SUV, launched respectively in May and July in Australia,” she said.

“These two new models are a real asset in our range when we know that SUVs now represent 43 per cent of the Australian car market.

“In addition to our products, we are also working on the brand experience. For example, in terms of commercial network, we will soon engage a project of our city store ‘La Maison Citroën’ in Sydney, to bring the best of the Citroën experience to our Australian customers.

“For me, it is essential that the brand stands out in terms of customer experience, because Citroën is the automotive brand that puts the customer at the heart of all its actions, as underlined by our signature ‘Inspired by You’. Our centenary celebrated this year is also a great opportunity to bring the heritage and the universe of Citroën to Australian people.”

Jackson said Citroen’s upcoming participation in Motorclassica, which kicks off in Melbourne on October 11, would celebrate its centenary and rich history in Australia. The chief executive confirmed it will mark her first visit to Australia.

“With 17 Citroëns on display, it promises to be a unique immersion in the brand's legacy,” Jackson said. “More than ever today, we are reinvesting this DNA with our new range. This is what we are showing especially with our SUVs launched this year in Australia.

“I am convinced that we have all the assets to seduce Australian customers. And you can count on us to continue to surprise you with our future models.”

Jackson’s visit comes about two years after UK-based distributor Inchcape took over Citroen’s Australian operations. Inchcape also imports Peugeot and Subaru into the country.