PSA Suspends EV Order, Has Enough

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

In 2010, when everybody was going ecstatic about EVs, PSA Peugeot Citroen said to Mitsubishi: “send us some of your i-Mievs, with our badges. Say, 100,000 for starters.”

PSA sold them (as much as they could) as the Peugeot iOn and Citroen C-Zero, the first car that sounds like sugar-free soda-pop. Now, PSA picked up the phone, called Japan, and said: “Hold the i-Mievs! We have enough!”

PSA Peugeot Citroen suspended deliveries of electric cars made by Mitsubishi Motors “to avoid inventory build-up amid lower-than-expected sales,” The Nikkei [sub] reports.

Says a very diplomatic Nikkei:

“Plug-in electric vehicles haven’t seen the rapid uptake that some car makers had hoped, held back by their high cost, the lack of charging facilities and limited range of around 180 kilometers, although this is improving as the technology develops.”

The uptake was limited to 900 Peugeot iOns for the first six months, down 40 percent from the same period of 2011, and 1,200 Citroen C-Zeros, a far cry from the optimistic goals.

A PSA spokeswoman told The Nikkei that they are not giving up on the EVs, calling the delivery stop a “temporary adjustment.”

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Jpolicke Jpolicke on Aug 08, 2012

    Does anybody know: In the US the standard charger that comes with an EV is 110V, which is the reason the charge takes so long. Since Europe runs on 220V, is the standard charger faster over there, or do you still need a high-amp model like they sell you up to here? Just curious, only slightly related to the story.

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    • Scoutdude Scoutdude on Aug 09, 2012

      @David Dennis Yup the Mitsu is a dog, the Leaf stomps all over it in every area and the Volt at least with it's initial demand is beating the Leaf in sales and many other aspects. We'll see how well both of those do once the Focus EV and Focus Energi are available outside of their initial market areas. On paper anyway they soundly beat their respective competition.

  • El scotto El scotto on Aug 08, 2012

    Yawning. Plug-ins are still a niche market for most people. They're great for the few who have the infrastructure in place.

  • Victor Victor on Aug 08, 2012

    EVs will be big in 10 years.

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    • Savuporo Savuporo on Aug 08, 2012

      @jpolicke They did ? 10 years ago everyone was still up in arms about GM crushing EV1s and not making anything out of their EV1 series hybrid prototypes. Lithium-ion tZero was only built in 2003, less than 10 years ago. Tesla was barely a twinkle in Elon's eye back then.

  • Linoberlin Linoberlin on Oct 16, 2012

    Citroen has placed 100 C-Zeros in Berlin with a car sharing project. It's fun, affordable and works well. Maybe that's the future of EVs, at least the near future. Not sure if Citroen will be able to run this project on a profitable basis.

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