With Peugeot-Citroen Eyeing New Markets, Could There Be a French Car in Your Future?

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

With the Saab brand now functionally dead, could the next quirky car du jour for individuality-signalling Americans come from France?

All eyes will be on PSA Peugeot Citroen on April 5 as France’s top automaker reveals its new international growth strategy, possibly heralding a return to the long-abandoned U.S. market.

The U.S. and Iran are being looked at as potential export markets, now that PSA’s “Back in the Race” restructuring program has improved the financial fortunes of the once-struggling automaker.

PSA has posted a profit for the past two years, and, as part of the company’s turnaround, has split off its former Citroen-badged DS vehicles into a separate, upscale make. Opening up new markets is now priority number one.

At the very least, DS would be a “natural candidate” for North America, according to comments made to Automobilwoche by brand chief Yves Bonnefont.

Citroen and Peugeot left the American market in 1974 and 1991, respectively, but the company kept a corporate presence in the country until just three years ago.

Famous for making former French president and general Charles de Gaulle’s favorite vehicle — the innovative and beloved Citroen DS — as well as classic sedans like the Peugeot 504, PSA has an impressive history to capitalize on.

However, with no dealer network on this side of the Atlantic, making inroads into North America would be a costly and risky endeavor.

The DS brand contains four hatchback models, while Citroen and Peugeot expand PSA’s lineup considerably further. As far as model recognition goes, only Citroen’s offbeat C4 Cactus has any resonance in the U.S., and that could easily be traced to a handful of enthusiastic automotive journalists.

In Australia, the most isolated market for PSA vehicles, sales of Citroens and Peugeots have slumped recently, and the DS line is forgoing any standalone dealerships for the time being. If you want a DS down under, it will come out of an existing Citroen showroom.

The whiz-enfants at PSA’s Paris headquarters are going to have their work out for them determining if there’s sufficient consumer demand for a company that hasn’t sold a single car in their country in decades.

[Sources: Automotive News, Car Advice, Wheels] [Image: Gnotype/Flickr ( CC BY-SA 3.0)]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Frylock350 Frylock350 on Mar 15, 2016

    Did anybody watch that Mythbusters episode where they attempted to make a motorcycle from a Citroen 2CV? I'm amazed how easily that car was field stripped with some really basic tools. Great episode if you haven't seen it.

  • Lon888 Lon888 on Mar 15, 2016

    If this does come to pass, put me down for a new Citroen DS3 and a "72 DS23 and a "75 SM. Merci beaucoup.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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