Citroën pulls out of SA (Update August 2019: They're Back!)

FiestaST

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Another one bites the dust....sad panda

"After struggling with poor sales the Citroën brand is being discontinued in South Africa at the end of this year.

Peugeot-Citroën South Africa (PCSA) will continue to honour warranties and service plans of its existing Citroën customers through its PCSA dealer network, but has stopped importing new vehicles from the French stable.

PCSA spokesperson Toni Herbst says the company will continue to bring in Peugeot vehicles.

Citroën entered the SA market as an importer in 2001 and became a subsidiary of PCSA France in 2010. It achieved some sales success with vehicles like the Picasso, while its C4 Cactus was a finalist in this year's WesBank-sponsored South African Car of the Year competition.

However critical acclaim from motoring journalists did little to boost sales of the brand with the quirky styling and uniquely French character. Citroën sold a total of just 789 cars in South Africa last year, and its even worse performance in 2016 as part of an industry-wide sales decline has put the brakes on further imports.

Around 15 000 Citroën and DS vehicles have been sold in SA in the last ten years, Herbst said, and servicing and parts supply will continue for those still on the road.

The Citroën model ranges being discontinued with immediate effect comprise the C1, the C4 Cactus, DS3, C4 Picasso and Dispatch Multispace."

http://www.iol.co.za/motoring/brakes-put-on-citron-sales-in-sa-7120952
 
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Pity. I always liked the look of the DS3.

But they weren't very popular along with Peugeot as I rarely see them on the roads down here.
 
It's a big loss as they were properly quirky & have lots of interesting products coming in the next few months & years.

Having said all that I was not totally surprised they are leaving. Their sales was on a downwards spiral.
 
Pity, the DS3 looked pretty cool, but I wouldn't own French in SA as a rule of thumb.

Can't blame them though, pretty sure Toyota/VW sell 789 cars in 2 peak days, let alone in 12 months. Also pretty sure Porsche comfortably shift more units than that a year.
 
Time to pick up some good deals!

Parts might be problem if it breaks down through.

The C4 Cactus was all ready marked down quite bit at dealership near me.
 
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Car Mag Dec 2016:

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Now my hunt for a bargain DS5 begins...:love:

Pity that they pulled the plug after battling it out the past few years. My bet is in that Peugeot will follow suit.

It just again shows that turnover & units pushed keeps the pot boiling. Luckily Renault saw the gap with the Clio 3 S & Yahoo/S and later the Sandero as fleet/rental cars.
 
Pity. The current range has a few gems, and the marque deserved to do better here. Alas, if your car doesn't say "VW", "Ford" or "Toyota" on the back, or it doesn't fall in the scope of ministerial preference, you're fighting an uphill battle on the SA market. South African car buyers, as a collective, are a little daft.
 
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Guess I'll be keeping my C4 THP EGS6 and DS5 HDI Sport for a few more years.

Haven't really given me any issues with the C4 currently on 145k km and the DS5 on 98k km.

I settled the C4 a few months back.
 
Guess I'll be keeping my C4 THP EGS6 and DS5 HDI Sport for a few more years.

Haven't really given me any issues with the C4 currently on 145k km and the DS5 on 98k km.
I presume the insurance fixed the DS5 then?

Can't agree more with you @HapticSimian
 
Still sucks to see more car options leave. You just see the same handful of cars wherever you go. Boooring

I bought the Seat when VW brought them in. The whole range was really good. Maybe VWSA felt threatened
 
Still sucks to see more car options leave. You just see the same handful of cars wherever you go. Boooring

I bought the Seat when VW brought them in. The whole range was really good. Maybe VWSA felt threatened

Nah, SEAT would never have made much of a dent in VW sales; even if they share underpinnings, SEAT would always have remained a niche product. VWSA's absolutely piss poor marketing and a tanking currency is what sank SEAT, not cannibalised sales.
 
Wow, ain't that just a surprise. I guess that means I'm now driving a collector's edition Citroen C3, lol. Good thing it's just about paid off anyway. After how little dealers had been offering me as trade-in on the car a year ago (before this news broke), I honestly don't think there's much way this news can affect the resale even more.
 
Just as I'm in the market for a new car for my wife... And actually considered the C4 Cactus. Well, off the the Opel dealership then for the new Astra.
 
Just as I'm in the market for a new car for my wife... And actually considered the C4 Cactus. Well, off the the Opel dealership then for the new Astra.

Astra and Cactus are two totally different vehicles though. If you were thinking Cactus, then maybe wait to see the Peugeot 3008 launching early next year. It's been well-received internationally, so I wouldn't give up on PSA just yet. You'll probably find they're going to pin a lot of hopes onto it as a new volume seller for them, so they'll incentivise the hell out of it.
 
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