Citroen aims to sell 10% of all cars online by 2021

Citroen pushing ahead with global online sales, however the UK rollout has been delayed by 'at least two years'

Citroen C4 Cactus - Linda Jackson

Citroen hopes to sell as much as 10 per cent of all of its vehicles over the internet by 2021, the firm’s boss has suggested - although plans to introduce online retail in the United Kingdom have been put back by at least two years.

The French brand’s CEO Linda Jackson revealed to Auto Express at 2016’s Paris Motor Show that Citroen was planning to introduce transparent-priced, online retail in the UK from 2017. But now she admits that the process has become “more complex” and that while Citroen is still committed to internet retail, it is weighing up a couple of different transaction models before introducing online sales to British customers. 

“We have an objective - not a belief - that internet sales could be 10 per cent of our global total by 2020 or 2021,” Jackson said. “Currently it’s barely one per cent. And those customers who are buying online right now are those who won’t go into a dealership. 

“I still think there’s a place for the dealer in the process - a chance to touch and test the car. We as a group - so PSA, in the form of Peugeot - is testing a sales process with fully integrated online retail, everything from buying the car to doing the finance. We will follow with that, but not in 2018. Then we’re also looking at another format, where we’re selling vehicles that are in stock at dealerships. We’re trying to merge the two of these, and the UK will get them, but probably at the back end of 2019 or into early 2020.

“But can I imagine a point where you look at a car online, configure it, play around with colours and options, and then go into a dealership to touch and feel the car, and test it, and then maybe even go back home to complete the order? Yes, I can. That’s what we’re trying to develop, but we’re not there yet.

The first step is robust selling online, and then the other steps are booking appointments online, and the after-sales service. We want to make sure it works because the worst thing we could do would be to make a big bang and then have a system that doesn’t deliver. Customers who went through that would be lost forever.”

Citroen has also introduced daily car rental via a dealer in France, as well as a pilot project where around 50 customers have ‘earned back’ all of their monthly lease rates on C1s by allowing the car to be rented out when it would otherwise be sitting unused. 

The UK was the sole European territory were Citroen’s sales declined in 2017. Jackson said the dip was down to a sharper focus on profits instead of volumes - a result, she stated, of the continuing instability caused by Brexit - and the relatively late arrival to market of the firm’s first small SUV, the C3 Aircross. “We’re aiming to get back market share in 2018,” Jackson added, “going up from just over 2.6 per cent of the UK market to over three per cent. And the initial sales for C3 Aircross, in barely a couple of weeks, are very encouraging.”

Partnership
Need to sell your car?
Find your best offer from over 5,000+ dealers. It’s that easy.

Would you ever buy a car online? Let us know your thoughts below...

Editor-at-large

John started journalism reporting on motorsport – specifically rallying, which he had followed avidly since he was a boy. After a stint as editor of weekly motorsport bible Autosport, he moved across to testing road cars. He’s now been reviewing cars and writing news stories about them for almost 20 years.

Recommended

Best new cars coming in 2024
Best new cars coming in 2024 - header image
Best cars & vans

Best new cars coming in 2024

There are some big new models from the likes of Audi, BMW, Citroen, Ford, MINI, Skoda and more on the way in 2024
20 Nov 2023
All change at Stellantis: Vauxhall, Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat vans get a fresh new look
2023 Stellantis van lineup
News

All change at Stellantis: Vauxhall, Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat vans get a fresh new look

A total of 12 new models spearhead Stellantis' bid for greater commercial vehicle success
23 Oct 2023
Back to the drawing board at Citroen with new You!, Plus and Max trim levels
Citroen trim range
News

Back to the drawing board at Citroen with new You!, Plus and Max trim levels

You!, Plus and Max trim levels are designed to simplify the Citroen buying process
4 Oct 2023
Deal of the Day: EV vans get £2,500 off plus freebies worth over £1,150
Stellantis group electric vans
News

Deal of the Day: EV vans get £2,500 off plus freebies worth over £1,150

Electric vans from Vauxhall, Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat are our deal of the day for October 3
3 Oct 2023

Most Popular

‘Forget leasing a car, a cut-price van should be your next everyday vehicle’
Opinion - Fiat Scudo
Opinion

‘Forget leasing a car, a cut-price van should be your next everyday vehicle’

With some huge savings to be had, Mike Rutherford thinks a van could be the perfect vehicle
3 Dec 2023
New Renault 5: price, specs, launch and on sale dates
Renault 5 EV concept at 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed
News

New Renault 5: price, specs, launch and on sale dates

Renault’s reborn Renault 5 will start from €25,000 in Europe, suggesting a circa-£30k price in the UK. It's due on sale in the summer of 2024. Here's …
1 Dec 2023
Deal of the Day: Vauxhall Grandland is an ideal family SUV for £210 per month
Vauxhall Grandland front cornering
News

Deal of the Day: Vauxhall Grandland is an ideal family SUV for £210 per month

Vauxhall’s largest SUV can be had for the same price as most superminis, making it our Deal of the Day for 1 December
1 Dec 2023