► Clash over car safety
► No shortcuts, says Citroën
► Its CEO on the first competition
Stellantis and Euro NCAP do not currently see eye to eye on the question of safety. The independent safety organisation made a jab at the automotive group last year when the Jeep Avenger scored just three stars out of five.
Euro NCAP’s secretary general Michiel van Ratingen said the Avenger’s results demonstrated a ‘clear lack of ambition’ at Stellantis and that ‘safety should not be where a manufacturer makes its savings’. It’s a pretty scathing remark. Thierry Koskas, Citroën CEO, has now responded in the same spirit, telling CAR he doesn’t think there needs to be another organisation, other than governments, checking the safety of new cars.
‘The requirements put in by Europe and by the different governments are already challenging enough and we think complying with the regulation is a good way to answer to the safety concern of the population. ‘I don’t need see why any government would need an additional body to decide what should be the right safety.’
The last Citroën to face NCAP was the C5X back in 2022. The new C3 and C3 Aircross have not been tested by the safety organisation. Koskas strongly denied that any corners had been cut when it came to safety and said Citroën fully supports ‘more and more demanding’ regulations.
He also insisted the relatively low-cost new Smart Car platform that underpins the C3 and other Stellantis products was not compromised on safety. ‘We have a car that is very simple with few options – it’s not something that is detrimental to customers. They are requesting simple things, not many trims, not many options. This is something that makes the car cheaper to produce, there are less parts in the car.’
It’s in line with a shift in philosophy signalled back in 2021 by the Oli concept – less choice, less weight and less cost for both manufacturer and consumer. It all sounds very Dacia but Koskas rejects the idea that Citroën is to Stellantis what Dacia is to Renault. (Dacia has also had some run-ins with NCAP.)
‘We are not Dacia because we have more than 100 years of history, we have very strong values, we have iconic models, so I don’t want to be compared.’ Even so, Koskas is bullish about the relative merits of the C3 over the Sandero, as well as the C3 Aircross against the Duster when discussing the matter further.
Customers may in fact be wooed away from Citroën by Chinese brands – including, potentially, Leapmotor, a name arriving in the UK this year with help from Stellantis, utilising the group’s showrooms and existing sales platforms. It’s a bold move, not least when Citroën is introducing its lower-cost electric cars, and fellow Stellantis brands Fiat and Vauxhall are doing similar with their Grande Panda and Frontera.
But Koskas isn’t worried. ‘Whether they are there internally or externally, they are there anyway. This is a competition that exists and it’s possibly the biggest challenge we have. At the end of the day there is space for everyone.’