[TusharK]

Citroen has introduced its leasing services called 'Citroen Lease' in India.



The leasing solutions have been launched in partnership with ALD Automotive, which is said to be one of the largest full service leasing and fleet management services providers. The company is active in 43 countries.

Citroen will offer leasing options to individuals, small and medium-sized businesses, corporate and the public sector in India. According to the company, there will be no upfront cost to customers, no financial risk, efficient tax management and easy upgrade, while including the maintenance as well as car insurance.

The announcement comes at a time when Citroen is planning to launch the C5 Aircross in India sometime next year.

[vaasscit]

Launching "Car lease" agreement before launching the car ? Now that's some forward thinking.
Have they even announced which Citroen is coming to our market ?

[motorworks]

Basically Citroen folks in India seem to have ample time on their hands, so they thought why not keep doing things that create some buzz. Nothing explains a car lease launch when there is no definitive timeline for a product launch. Plus, if im not wrong, the first car from Citroen is not a heavily localised product, meaning its one of those 25-35 lakh SUVs which is hardly the candidate for Car lease!

[maven]

Originally Posted by vaasscit

Launching "Car lease" agreement before launching the car ? Now that's some forward thinking.
Have they even announced which Citroen is coming to our market ?

It’s the air cross. The model was there in one of the episodes of The Grand Tour.

[Durango Dude]

The French sure have their quirks and quirky cars, but where is the car?? ..or are they sending out invites to special people to "lease" their cars?? Classic case of putting the "cart" in front of the "horse"!

[GTO]

Originally Posted by vaasscit

Launching "Car lease" agreement before launching the car ? Now that's some forward thinking.

Some management guru told Citroen that the Indian market is very crowded and since they're a late entrant, they need to be "different". So the French have launched a very "different" leasing scheme:

- No car
- No launch date
- No details on pricing
- No details on duration or buyback value
- No availability since there are no dealers up yet
- Best of all, no customers!!!

[adi.mariner]

This is really some innovative thinking by Citroen. They might get the initial 2500 units as CBU/SKD which can be imported without homologation and give them on lease. Just to gauge the response to the product before starting full fledged production.

[DImPo]

Originally Posted by adi.mariner

This is really some innovative thinking by Citroen. They might get the initial 2500 units as CBU/SKD which can be imported without homologation and give them on lease. Just to gauge the response to the product before starting full fledged production.

Yea. This could be the plan. But 250 copies should be enough if offered to select customers like senior auto enthusiasts.

[dhanushs]

Wow! Hard to imagine an automotive company making such a huge blunder, that too on entering the marketing. Will stay tuned and see how it shapes up.

[octane_100]

Originally Posted by adi.mariner

This is really some innovative thinking by Citroen. They might get the initial 2500 units as CBU/SKD which can be imported without homologation and give them on lease. Just to gauge the response to the product before starting full fledged production.

I think the rule which allows 2500 units without homologation is for companies which already have sales, not for new entrants AFAIK.

On a separate note, has anyone visited their site? It has a section "How to Pronounce Citroen"

[adi.mariner]

Originally Posted by octane_100

I think the rule which allows 2500 units without homologation is for companies which already have sales, not for new entrants AFAIK.

Thank you octane_100. I am not at all aware about the homologation rules. It was just what came to my mind about Citroen starting a leasing service without having a product in India. That this is the route they might take.

[gauravanekar]

Originally Posted by octane_100

On a separate note, has anyone visited their site? It has a section "How to Pronounce Citroen"

You're right. If they had put as much interest in launching the car it would have been much better.

[landcruiser123]

Hello Citroen,
April 1 was half a year before. You've missed the deadline (by a mile :P)

On a serious note- Are they talking about real estate leasing schemes for dealers or actual car leasing schemes for end customers? If it's the latter- it is the classic case of putting the cart before the horse.

[srishiva]

Is it just a leasing company? Do they have to have their own cars for launching leasing ? Or are they planning to lease their own vehicles when ultimately they launch them ? Whats wrong ?

[dragracer567]

Originally Posted by maven

It’s the air cross. The model was there in one of the episodes of The Grand Tour.

That was the C3 aircross. The one coming to India is the C5 aircross - bigger model.