The car that dominated the rally champs doesn't have a dealership in Auckland, writes motoring editor Alastair Sloane
KEY POINTS:
Citroen's recent dominance of the World Rally Championship blows the old "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" maxim out of the water, judging by modest sales of the marque in New Zealand and the low-key appearance of the new C5 sedan and wagon.
New Zealand distributor Ateco Automotive NZ has just unveiled the new large car C5 to a handful of non-Auckland dealers, who believe the stylish model will renew interest in the French marque beyond the country's biggest city.
Ateco didn't invite its Auckland dealer to the launch - because it doesn't have one. It did, but the dealer handed the nameplate back not long ago. Sales of the dealer's core brand have fallen away in the current economic climate and it didn't want to spread itself even thinner.
For the moment, Ateco will sell the Citroen range from its Mt Wellington company headquarters. Potential Auckland-area buyers can walk in off the street. They will likely deal with a mix of staff, from Melissa on the front desk to Kelly in marketing and the technical blokes out the back. General manager Lawrie Malatios will be on hand, too, to tell them that Citroen's niggling electronic and quality control problems are history.
Malatios says he is looking to appoint a new Citroen dealer in the city. "Auckland is a critical market for Citroen and it is essential that we have the best possible long-term representation," he says.
"For that reason we are taking the appropriate care and time in appointing a suitable dealer.
"But in the short term this shortening of the supply chain will offer benefits to our clients."
Chief among them is the chance for main man Malatios to go one-on-one with customers. He will tell them things like Citroen being among the carmakers best-placed to meet the European Union's exhaust emissions limits of 130g/km by 2012.
He bases this on a report from Brussels-based campaign group Transport & Environment that says the PSA Citroen/Peugeot group, French rival Renault and Italy's Fiat will only have to cut average CO2 emissions of their new-car fleets by between 10 and 13 per cent to meet the EU targets.
It says Germany's Daimler and three Japanese brands have the most work to do to meet the target. Suzuki will need to cut emissions by 25 per cent, Daimler and Mazda by 24 per cent, and Nissan by 22 per cent.
Exhaust emissions output of 130g/km is equivalent to fuel economy of 5.6 litres/100km (50mpg) for petrol cars and 5 litres/100km (56mpg) for diesels.
To meet the 130g/km average for Europe, carmakers will be given individual targets according to the weight of the cars they produce in 2012.
Builders of lighter cars such as PSA, Fiat and Renault have easier targets than makers of heavier, luxury cars such as Daimler.
German carmakers cut their average emissions in 2007 by 3.2 per cent to 168g/km; French carmakers improved by 0.7 per cent to 143g/km.
Among individual carmakers, BMW's 7.3 per cent drop to 170g/km - which came thanks to the wide-ranging launch of its so-called Efficient Dynamics fuel-saving technologies - earned praise from the Brussels body.
Modern diesel engines have helped pull down average exhaust emissions. Diesel engines produce fewer CO2 exhaust emissions than their petrol equivalents, one of the reasons why Ateco has gone all-diesel with the large-car C5 sedan and Tourer wagon.
There are two engine choices, both mated to six-speed automatic gearboxes. The 2-litre unit delivers 100kW at 4000rpm and 320Nm (340Nm on overboost) at 2000rpm.
The 2.7-litre twin-turbocharged V6 - the same unit used in the Land Rover Discovery and Jaguar XF - produces 150kW at 4000rpm and 440Nm at 1900rpm.
Citroen claims town and around fuel economy for both engines of between 7.1 and 8.4 litres/100km (40-34mpg), with a cruising best of 5.5 litres/100km for the 2-litre and 6.4 litres/100km for the V6.
The range comes with a five-star crash rating, all sorts of bells and whistles, and is priced at $54,990 for the 2-litre saloon and $57,990 for the 2-litre Tourer. The range-topping V6 costs $66,990. This engine is available only in the sedan.
Malatios expects the C5 to "provide new impetus to the brand in New Zealand".
"But, like the whole industry, we have been suffering during the recent economic downturn."
New-vehicle sales have taken a dive over the past two months.
In August, 5684 new cars were sold, a drop of 16.4 per cent on the same month in 2007. Commercial sales of 1680 were down 22.8 per cent on August last year.
Motor Industry Association chief executive Perry Kerr says that no sector is immune from the economic pessimism that has prevailed this year.
"New vehicle sales defied economic trends for the first half of the year, but eventually there had to be an adjustment," says Kerr.
"The good news is that the indicators are suggesting that the bottom has been reached and that confidence will increase in the coming months.
"Our members are now predicting that the full year's new-vehicle market will fall slightly short of 2007's level, but that the industry can move into 2009 with considerable confidence."
