Citroen C4 X is on sale! Production signal in Turkey…
French automobile manufacturer Citroen put the new compact class representative C4 X for sale in Turkey, which had its world premiere in Istanbul in June 2022.
The launch of the car, which is the sedan version of the C4, was held in Madrid, the capital of Spain, which is also where it was produced.
At the event in Madrid, we had the opportunity to talk with the brand’s CEO Vincent Cobée and Turkey General Manager Selen Alkım about the brand’s future goals and current developments in the automotive industry.
Therefore, before taking a closer look at the features of the C4 X, it is useful to take a look at the messages given by the top points of the French brand.
Citroen CEO Vincent Cobée, who started his speech by emphasizing that the C4 X, produced with the sedan formula, unlike the C4, will be sold mostly in Turkey, said that although the car is only available in the electric version in Europe, they call it diesel and gasoline options in Turkey. reported.
Cobée said, “Due to regulations (electric cars), the number of vehicles with internal combustion engines in Europe will decrease. We will primarily direct these internal combustion engines to markets such as Turkey, Israel and Japan.”
The statements of the French CEOs are remarkable to show that Turkey’s C4 X sales will be the first with internal combustion engines, which will not even be offered for sale in Europe, except for the electric version.
‘ PRODUCTION IN TURKEY CAN BE CONSIDERED IF THERE IS A SALE OF 80 THOUSAND UNITS’
He also talked with Vincent Cobée about the possibility of marking the biggest market of the C4 X as Turkey, and the production of the model being made in Turkey instead of Spain.
As such, FCA and PSA merged to form a new automotive group called Stellantis in 2021. With this merger, Stellantis became the world’s 4th largest automotive group with 14 brands.
The Tofaş factory in Bursa, where Fiat models are produced, was also affected by this touch, and the production of Fiat Doblo, whose 20 user manuals were produced in Bursa, was shifted to the Stellantis factory in Spain. Therefore, those with a significant capacity waiting for the factory to be filled in Tofaş were welcomed.
Recalling this whole process, we asked whether the C4 X could be produced at the Tofaş factory, and Citroen CEO Cobée spoke clearly.
Recording information about a certain sales figures of the brand to produce in Turkey The French CEO said, “France, Italy, Spain, England and Germany are our top five markets. If we reach 80 thousand sales figures, then production in Turkey will be a strong possibility. This figure is not a dream for Turkey, it is a serious possibility,” he said.
‘C4 X A START TO ENTER THE TOP 5’
During the conversation, Citroen Turkey General Manager Selen Alkım said that they will reach the sales figures of 80,000 units in 2025.
Alkım said, “We are designing similar structures for the market in 2023 compared to 2022. But we want to increase our share to 6.3 percent, the C4 X will have a large share in this. This model is for Citroen’s target of entering the top 5 countries where it sells the most. It is also a start. In 2023, 49,200 units of sales have a destination. In 2022, our sales remained at 29,000 units due to shipping problems,” he said.
Alkım said that they will deliver 10 thousand units to Turkey in 2023 from the C4 X, where a thousand pre-orders were collected before going on sale, “We are working to increase these numbers to 15 thousand. As Turkey, we will buy the highest number, so supply distributions are according to C4. “Our hands are more comfortable in the C4 X. 10% of the C4 X’s sales in Turkey will be electric, 55 percent will be gasoline and diesel diesel,” he said.
‘WE WILL KEEP IT IN 10 PERCENT SCT AS POSSIBLE’
Turkey prices start from 722 thousand TL at the C4 X meeting in Madrid. While all gasoline and diesel versions are in the 80 percent SCT segment, the electric version is at the top of the 10 percent SCT section with a price of 909 thousand TL.
If there are a number of considerations in the euro rate of the last day, there is a possibility of a hike of at least 250 thousand TL, with 40 percent of the electric version in the upper SCT section.
During the conversation we brought together these topics, Citroen Turkey General Manager Selen Alkım emphasized that they will try to keep the electric C4 X in the 10 percent SCT zone.
Alkım said, “Our expectation is that the electric C4 X will increase by 10 percent in SCT.
Although Alkım has not disclosed the operating details in this release, it is possible to give up the Wallbox charging unit, Citroen Turkey’s electric C4 X output gift feature, and to bring the electric version with a lower equipment package, in order to protect the car from the tax hike of 250 thousand TL. .
WORKS STARTED FOR TAXI IN ISTANBUL
Selan Alkım also explained that they want to increase the sales of Ami, the electric mobility product of his brand from 1000 to 3000 thousand in 2023, adding that they will bring the new C3 and C5 mild hybrid within the year, but the C5 X produced in China will be put on sale in 2023. He added that there are no plans to put it up for sale.
Making statements at the event in Madrid, Citroen Turkey’s new Marketing Director Serdar Akman also announced that the electric C4 X will be sold online only.
Explaining that the demand for more accurate management lies behind this decision, Akman said that the headquarters will take the orders and the deliveries will go from the dealer.
On the other hand, let’s talk about how Citroen Turkey works with the Jumpy Spacetourer model for the 2,125 new taxis, which were accepted at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) Transportation Coordination Center (UKOME) meeting last month.
CREATED A NEW CLASS
After the remarkable statements of the top management of the French brand, let’s move on to the features of the C4 X.
The electric version of the C4 X, which we had the opportunity to use for about 50 kilometers on the streets of Madrid, is exactly the same as the version with an internal combustion engine, both inside and outside. At the same time, the car, which is exactly the same with the C4 until the end of the rear doors, differs from the C4 with the slope of the rear seat backrest. The fact that the backrest of the rear seat is cooler in the C4 X, the vehicle unloading knows the possibilities of both achieving a more comfortable sitting position and experiencing a more spacious interior feeling.
The car, which is at the top of its class in terms of insulation, offers a softer structure than expected in this class, together with the special unwinding system introduced by Citroen for the first time in the C5 Aircross model. However, when this structure is combined with the body from the ground, it also tends to lean more in the corners of its movements on the highways than in its class.
We mentioned that the design of the car is the same as the C4. As a small innovation, the interface of the multimedia screen on the C4 X has been renewed. In this way, a more user-friendly structure has been obtained.
The C4 X is categorized as a c-segment sedan, according to the Automotive Distributors and Mobility Association (ODMD). However, you can get the feeling of using a crossover while driving, especially when you line up with another passenger car in traffic. The car, which has an unusually high sedan bodywork, was presented to users in 2023, this time in the C segment, with the formula that Volvo had tried with the S60 in the D segment in the past. The sales success of the C4 X may lead other brands to enter this ‘new’ class as well.