Citroen sets out to lift its profile

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

Citroen is aiming to lift its profile in New Zealand, by cashing in on the stable Euro-Kiwi exchange rate to challenge more mainstream markets.

The French carmaker will also capitalise on the expected appearance in the 2001 World Rally Championship of its four-wheel-drive Xsara, which blitzed the heavyweight Ford, Mitsubishi and Subaru teams to win two rounds in shakedown mode early this year.

The Xsara rally car draws on Citroen's considerable experience in four-wheel-drive endurance events.

It will challenge its stablemate, the defending Peugeot team, in the Rally of New Zealand next year, something Citroen staffers are looking forward to .

Three new Citroen passenger cars will go on sale here in 2001: the all-new Xantia range, the mid-sized people-mover Picasso, and a reworked Xsara sedan and estate.

The Xantia, codenamed the C5 and said to be a stunning design, will be unveiled at next month's Paris motor show. The first example of the Picasso - a huge success in Europe where demand exceeds supply - is expected to land here before Christmas. It will rival the Renault Scenic.

The strength of the yen against the New Zealand dollar is penalising Japanese carmakers, who are looking at further price rises before Christmas.

But mainstream European carmakers dealing in the Euro or Deutschmark are confident they can hold prices at present levels.

Peugeot has been the dominant French carmaker in New Zealand for many years.

Citroen has had a loyal following but hasn't set the world on fire and Renault, despite its well-equipped cars at excellent prices, is still finding its way again.

Peugeot and Renault have new models in the pipeline, too - Peugeot with its longer-wheelbase 306 and Renault with its Laguna and facelifted Clio.

But Citroen's plan is to replace its entire passenger car line-up within two years, a policy it hopes will give it its best chance to challenge the established Japanese players and some of the Holden-badged European products from Opel.

Part of the plan includes a replacement for the 206-based Saxo, based on the Plurial concept car, and the appearance of the car all Europe is talking about - the 21st century version of the 2CV, codenamed the C3.

The C3 is expected to rekindle interest in novelty models, in much the same way as the retro-styled Volkswagen Beetle did in the United States.

What Citroen is doing with the new Xantia is typical of its intention to become more competitive.

The current Xantia estate is specially built, a more expensive process. But the new model will come off the assembly line, just as the Xsara estate does.

The production change is expected to make the Xantia load-carrier, one of Europe's favourite cars, even more appealing.