Citroen to make debut with C5 Aircross SUV

Chennai: French car giant Groupe PSA will re-enter the already crowded car market in India with its flagship all-new car Citroen C5 Aircross SUV in August-September to coincide with the start of the festive season.

Citroen has confirmed that the international brand would also launch one all-new car every year beginning from 2021 and then export it to overseas markets.

The all-new Citroen C5 Aircross SUV will be taking on many models in the compact SUV segment, including the Jeep Compass, Hyundai Tucson and the upcoming Kia SP2i SUV.

This French SUV will be produced at the company's Hosur-based facility in Tamil Nadu with about 95 per cent of local content.

"We are in India for a long haul. We will build our brand step by step as India is an important market for us as we are targeting 50 per cent sales to come from outside Europe by 2021," Carlos Tavares, Chairman at Groupe PSA told Financial Chronicle.

"India offers frugality, cost and quality competitiveness and scale which we will use to drive our business not only for India but for our entire company," he pointed out.

"We are also setting up a specific purchasing team to source parts from India for the rest of the world. Exports will be at the same time as introducing products in local market that they will be shipped to other parts of the world," Tavares said.

The Paris-based PSA, known for its legacy Peugeot, Citroen and DS brands had said in February it would launch the Citroen brand in India as it pursues a 50 per cent group sales increase outside its home region by 2021.  The PSA already has a presence in India through its "Push to Pass" plan, which began in 2017 with two joint ventures with CK Birla Group.