Like sister brand Peugeot, Citroën has reported significant sales growth in the first half of the year in Europe and China, its most important markets. The brand’s global sales rose 7 percent to 624,000 vehicles, with China and Europe accounting for 85 percent of the overall sales.
China remains Citroën’s largest single market, making up a quarter of the company’s global sales. The French carmaker sold more than 160,000 vehicles in the Asian country, a gain of 16 percent in a market that grew by 13 percent. The main performers in China were the C-Elysée sedan with 46,000 sales and the C4 L with 35,000 sales.
In Europe, Citroën’s sales rose by 10 percent, outpacing the overall growth of 7 percent and posting the brand’s best performance in 10 years. In France, the Citroën’s second largest market, sales rose by 8 percent, but the most spectacular growth was in Spain – 28 percent.
In terms of models, Citroën sold more than 106,000 C3 superminis and 69,000 C4 Picasso MPVs. The carmaker expects growth to continue in the second half of the year, thanks to fresh products like the C4 Cactus and C1, which have already recorded 7,000 and 4,500 orders, respectively, in one month since their launch. Citroën will also launch a new SUV in China, previewed by the C-XR Concept.
As for the DS luxury brand, sales totaled 63,800 in the first half of the year, driven by its performance in China, which accounts for 16 percent of the overall sales (10,400 units). In Europe, however, DS sales fell 20 percent to nearly 50,000 units, because of the premium segment’s contraction (by 1.7 percent), particularly in France, where the premium segment decreased 15 percent.
By Dan Mihalascu
PHOTO GALLERY
