Within PSA, 51-year-old Vincent Cobée is in charge of Citroën as a brand. Techzle spoke to the Frenchman about the future of Citroen and came to different conclusions.
The conversation begins about the upcoming merger between parent company PSA and the Italian FCA. How can Citroën still distinguish itself in this large family? “The term” brand “is increasingly about people’s experience and less about the actual hardware of the car. This allows various brands to use the same technology, but they all apply it differently. ”
According to Cobée, Citroën works with three values as a basis: innovation, comfort and accessibility. Especially with the ‘old-fashioned French’ comfort, Citroën tries to attract buyers to the dealers. The brand manager explains, however, that it is not inconceivable that the other brands in the group will use Citroën’s new showpiece at a later stage, the progressive hydraulic cushions from, for example, the C5 Aircross. “You often see that when such a technique has been further developed it can also be used by other brands. However, that is not yet the case. ”
Cobée also highlights the Citroën range. With DS as the luxury division, there is certainly no successor to the Citroën C6 in the barrel? “We innovate in every direction. Right now, the C5 Aircross is our flagship, but there’s no reason to think it should always stay that way. It is possible that in the coming years, a model will emerge above the C5 Aircross. ”
With the DS 9 in mind, the more luxurious version of the Peugeot 508, it would be a logical step for Citroën to come with such a car. In the corridors there is meanwhile also a lot of speculation about a new C5. Whether this is all about the same car remains the big question for the time being.
The entire interview with Vincent Borée was in Techzle 13. That edition is here after ordering.