Ford s announcement that it is to cease production of the classic Mondeo after nearly 30 years next spring, has led many to read the last rites over a whole class of cars - the traditional saloon.
The Citroen boss answers our questions on the past, present and future for the famous French brand
18 May 2021
Citroen boss Vincent Cobée talks exclusively to Auto Express about the effect of Covid on the business, the semi-conductor component crisis, Citroen’s burgeoning van line-up, the changing shape of models in the showroom and why the Citroën Ami in the UK is “something that should happen.”
Q. How has the pandemic affected and changed Citroen over the past twelve months?
A. Obviously we were hit volume-wise by the crisis. We saw early signs of a crisis back in February last year, mostly because of the Chinese origin of some of our components, which were affected by the lockdown in China.
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Steve Fowler talks with Citroen and Ford about the future of their line-ups
5 May 2021
The huge proliferation of models in recent years has presented dealers with a challenge: how can they display and demonstrate a growing range of cars? And can customers try the car they actually want to buy?
It begs the question whether we really need the narrowest of niches, especially among SUVs. Citroen boss Vincent Cobée doesn’t think so, as he told me this week: “We’ve seen an interesting phenomenon in the last years, with some brands carpet-bombing the markets.
“So you end up with a vehicle every 10 centimetres of length, and a vehicle every three to five centimetres of height. And if you’re really obsessive, you end up with five or six SUVs in length, and then you can deploy them with two or three heights.”
Citroen has gone back to the future with its new flagship C5X - a car fit for the French President or a family - and with a boot big enough to carry a washing machine.
Drawing on Citroen s rich heritage of large luxury cars that waft the driver and passenger along on magic carpet ride suspension, the C5X takes inspiration from the legendary DS and the subsequent CX, XM and most recent C6.
Rolling the dice with what it sees as an update to the concept of the big saloon for the modern age, the French carmaker says the C5X is a stylish fastback mix of saloon, SUV and estate with a keen eye on the large aerodynamic and eye-catching Citroens of decades gone by.