PSA's Brand Strategy: Let's Make A Peugeot Sandwich

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

PSA announced their renewed brand strategy for their Peugeot and Citroen lines, and the situation has finally been clarified after frequent back and forth reports that contradicted one another. It turns out that PSA will employ a three-tier approach that is equally confusing, with Citroen as the lowest tier with Peugeot on top. But then there’s also Citroen’s DS line, which is supposed to be upscale itself. Confused? So are we.

A hand cheat sheet provided by PSA to Automotive News Europe outlines the “values” supposedly embodied by both Citroen and Peugeot.

PSA CEO Philippe Varin recently outlined the new product strategies for Peugeot and Citroen like this:


Citroen stands for:


Fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly cars


Easy-to-use, less sophisticated technology


Purist design


Peugeot stands for:


Perceived quality and reliability


Elegant, dynamic designs that stand out from the crowd


Innovative driving experience and driving pleasure

PSA was adamant that Citroen was not going to become a low-cost brand, but the next generation of vehicles will be positioned slightly lower than the current range. Does that mean the Hydramatic suspension, one of the brand’s hallmarks, will be gone? Let’s hope not. What will be happening is that Citroen vehicles will be positioned as “cheap premium” (whatever that means), with Peugeot being “premium” and to top it all off, Citroen’s DS line will be positioned as an even more premium range relative to Peugeot, if Automotive News has it right, which is difficult to ascertain, since PSA seems to change its positioning depending on what day of the week it is.

Further complicating matters is Peugeot’s schizophrenic offerings, including the low-cost 301 sedan which will be sold in emerging markets as a premium vehicle relative to the other low-cost competitors, if you buy into PSA’s spin. It’s a tough one to swallow, considering that Renault has poured so much time and effort into Dacia for the precise reason that the low-cost and premium brands should not mix.

Keen French car observers will also note that the brand values espoused here are backwards. Traditionally, Citroen had the elegant, dynamic designs and wild new technologies, while Peugeots were rugged and simple enough to endear themselves to the pied-noirs of Africa. Outside of France and Africa, Peugeot’s profile is basically nil – if the Citroen C6’s poor sales were an indication of how poorly premium French cars were received then the Peugeot 607 large sedan may have been the only offering to fare even worse, ending up largely in the hands of cab drivers.

The most succinct analysis of it all comes from Fitch Ratings, which noted

“We believe this strategy makes sense overall but carries substantial execution risk and could take many years to bear fruit. In particular, we are concerned that the existence of both entry-level/basic models and aspiring higher-end products within the two brands will not be easily understood and accepted by customers.”

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • Righteousball Righteousball on Mar 15, 2013

    As a Citroen fan I say Peugeot deserves a very bad fate for doing this. Very bad, as in worse than Mazda's five-brand strategy from 1991...LOL :)

  • 406driver 406driver on Mar 15, 2013

    Citroen's novel suspension is hydropneumatic - not Hydramatic which is a GM auto transmission

  • Lorenzo Heh. The major powers, military or economic, set up these regulators for the smaller countries - the big guys do what they want, and always have. Are the Chinese that unaware?
  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
  • Lorenzo At my age, excitement is dangerous. one thing to note: the older models being displayed are more stylish than their current versions, and the old Subaru Forester looks more utilitarian than the current version. I thought the annual model change was dead.
  • Lorenzo Well, it was never an off-roader, much less a military vehicle, so let the people with too much money play make believe.
  • EBFlex The best gift would have been a huge bonfire of all the fak mustangs in inventory and shutting down the factory that makes them.Heck, nobody would even have to risk life and limb starting the fire, just park em close together and wait for the super environmentally friendly EV fire to commence.
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