Citroen's DS strategy

Updated



The unleashing of the new DS3 is the first major step towards the marque's light reinvention of itself. This small, stylish hatchback is the first of three slightly more upmarket models designed to give Citroen a dash of prestige and move it away from the heavy discount habit it has pursued for years.

Selling cars on price is not viable in the long-term, admitted Citroen insiders at the recent DS3 launch (we could have told them that years ago), which is why the company has been attempting to offer, with varying success, models offering some advantages over the competition.

While the older C4 missed the target, the new C4 and C3 Picasso MPVs are selling well, the bigger C5 is making modest inroads into the fleet market and the company has strong hopes for the new C3 with its unusual Visiodrive big windscreen.

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