Scoop! Citroën is the first with an electric car under 25,000 euros

Volkswagen will launch its “affordable” ID.2all in 2025, meaning Citroën will outperform its competitor. In October, the French brand presented the e-C3, which was launched shortly thereafter for less than 25,000 euros.

What do we know about the upcoming Citroën e-C3? Just what newfangled CEO Thierry Koskas told us. That it will have a range of more than 300 kilometers and with its length of 4 meters it will be as long as the current C3 (the car above this story).

Citroën C3 on the so-called Smart Car platform

The new C3 is not based on the STLA platform of, among others, Jeep Avenger, Opel Corsa Electric and Peugeot e-2008, but on a new variant of Stellantis’ so-called Smart Car platform, which is intended for emerging markets. like Africa and India.

According to Koskas, the new EV platform is quite cost-effective, which should ensure Citroën can turn a profit on the e-C3. He calls it an enormous challenge to develop an electric car that costs less than 25,000 euros.

He expects a lot from the Citroën e-C3 and therefore assumes that the company can benefit from economies of scale. We assume that there will also be variants for other Stellantis brands of the affordable e-C3, although Koskas declined to confirm this.

Later also available with petrol engine

Incidentally, the C3 will again be available with petrol engines. Citroën is largely dependent on the European market, but will focus even more on South America, Africa, the Middle East and India, where electric vehicle sales are scarce.

Koskas emphasizes that the new C3 has been developed for Europe and for its starting price of less than 25,000 euros it will come fully equipped, with manual air conditioning, power steering and power windows.

Role within Stelantis as a popular, affordable brand

Citroën needs to position itself within Stellantis. After all, the merged group has several volume brands in its portfolio, such as Peugeot, Opel and Fiat.

“Electrification is driving up car prices,” says Koskas, “but people’s salaries aren’t increasing.” That’s why Citroën sees itself as a popular and affordable brand. Last year we sold more than 680,000 cars. That number needs to increase.”

Citroën as a budget brand à la Dacia?

Will Citroën become a budget brand à la Dacia? Koskas laughs at the question. “We don’t like the word ‘budget’ so we use the term ‘popular’. We have set ourselves the goal of making electric mobility accessible.”

“We want to make it easier for our customers,” Koskas continues, “that’s why we will use a maximum of three versions per car and a maximum of five additional options.” This will make the price list much shorter and clearer.”

A disguised austerity measure? “Nope,” says Koskas. “The fact that this reduces our production costs is a positive side effect.” The CEO puts it charmingly, but we still don’t believe it.

Koskas doesn’t want to give in. “The selection process for our customers needs to be made simpler. We’ll go into more detail on that later. Then there is almost no choice.”