Stellantis’ future India models revealed but will they sell? Deep Drive Podcast Ep.12| Autocar India

Stellantis brands Citroen and Jeep are selling all of a few hundred units a month in India. Where did they go wrong and how are they planning to make amends is the topic of discussion for this episode of Autocar Deep Drive brought to you by Kotak Mahindra Prime. Hormazd Sorabjee - Editor, Autocar India - and Ketan Thakkar - Editor, Autocar Professional - share some intel.
Editor: Deven Bhalla
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Chapters -
0:00 - Introduction
1:25 - Management changes
2:50 - Eye on costs
5:10 - Citroen's India approach
13:10 - Fiat to Stellantis
18:10 - Jeep and the Compass
22:06 - All-new Jeep for India
25:22 - Citroen's EV play
27:37 - Leapmotor coming to India
28:55 - Managing multiple brands
31:42 - Jeep Meridian: What went wrong?
33:07 - Maserati in India
33:40 - Looking ahead
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#autocarindia #deepdrive #podcast #jeep #citroen #stellantis

[@autocarindia1]

Chapters - 0:00 - Introduction 1:25 - Management changes 2:50 - Eye on costs 5:10 - Citroen's India approach 13:10 - Fiat to Stellantis 18:10 - Jeep and the Compass 22:06 - All-new Jeep for India 25:22 - Citroen's EV play 27:37 - Leapmotor coming to India 28:55 - Managing multiple brands 31:42 - Jeep Meridian: What went wrong? 33:07 - Maserati in India 33:40 - Looking ahead

[@vishvaksenathirumalmarugan5410]

I have been Driving a Fiat punto diesel for the past 14 years done 350000 kms in it I love it

[@venkatramanan96]

They missed to judge the shift of people's mind in India when everyone is willing to buy a good car with features.

[@kaushalendraraomannava4578]

I owned a Fiat Punto Diesel - Fantastic car. Tata deliberately destroyed it by giving poor service. Tata cheated FIAT. Make nko mistake.

[@shashanksaikumar]

I really hope Citroen does well. I love their engineering philosophy. I still feel that a price cut can move some numbers on the C3 and Aircross

[@nitwit2011]

Why was Renegade not brought to India despite Car being seen testing on Indian Roads?

[@yamanrehman9266]

I am very hopeful about the Citroen brand in India. They kept the cost under control and slowly moving into Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities where cost really matters. The kind of cost structure Citroen has, they will really take on Maruti-Suzuki in India. And, I like the phrase Hormazd used for Citroen C3 Aircross that it feels like its cabin is designed by Accountants rather than Engineers.

[@RandomGuy2421]

Aditya Jairaj was clearly not cutting it for Stellantis India. In the last interview at Autocar he had no news or vision for new model launches in India. Jeep and Citroen has much better models in US and European markets. One fails to understand what sort of marketing research these companies do.

[@RandomGuy2421]

It's really sad to how Jeep is destroying Compass brand in India by not updating it sufficiently and overpricing it compared to its competitors.

[@nitinshooter]

These western car manufacturers try to stick their outdated products to the Indian customers. They don't have a good supply chain management thats why their products are outdated yet expensive. Clearly won't work when you have other players who are doing it right.

[@sameersutube]

Ford got their lineup wrong in India though they have such a huge portfolio of models worldwide. Citroen tried their luck in cost cutting. Jeep overestimated the spending power of the Indian customer base. They have to realise that the Indian customer is no longer the uninformed one like 10 years back. Now they know what they want and hence manufacturers cannot just take them for granted.

[@saurabhaloriya3950]

I just enjoy listening to Hormazd especially in the new podcast series. Really like this series. 😊

[@chandermotwani3493]

Awesome content. Yes Fiat needs to comeback in India. Citroen they need to upgrade the build quality & premium features otherwise their cars are barebones. Jeep is awesome they are planning the Thar rival as well. And 4.2 meter SUV as well. They can also bring in Opel or Peugeot brands as well. 🤘🏻💯

[@Newbutold]

Fiat should come back with a new strategy and a new diesel engine (wishful thinking)😅

[@shadow_realm47]

The build quality, safety and interior cooked the brand completely. Engine and handling are there but the higher ups were clearly making a car on an excel sheet rather than actually driving their own products and bench marking them. C3 Aircross with the torque converter is an excellent protect.

[@madhusudanhora2339]

Fiat Linea and other models failed because TATA dealers didn't promote the model and denied service in their workshops . Linea was good to drive but lack of quality control resulted in repeated part failures . Then on top the availability was sparse . Remember the alternator coming from Italy after 15 days .

[@Krieky]

Recently drove the Jeep Renegade in Europe…and it seemed like the perfect size for India. Wonder why they are not considering that for India. It’s smaller than the Compass, so definitely could be a 15-20L range car. Looks good too.

[@APK-dq7rc]

If one can compromise on features & interior design then C3 Aircross is a great car which provides superior ride comfort like higher segment vehicles at a starting price of Rs. 8.99 L.

[@BlackHawkTejas]

It's too much of a compromise on features, quality & interior design & way too much focus on cheap cost cutting. Also the lack of After Sales Service/Showroom plus lack of brand awareness is playing its part. Personally I also think, the citroen guys think India & Indian consumers are from 90s. I would had liked Peugeot instead of Citroen here. Also ₹8.99L is not a small amount to look past whatever advantage their model or company packs, honestly can't blame Indian buyers here.

[@deepakpraveens]

The compass is still a great product and is not outdated ,better engineered than XUV ,Harrier and Hector. Citroen has got its product portfolio completely wrong, same mistake Toyota made with Etios, offering a basic product in a competitive market. Kia meanwhile has done a stellar job in understanding the Indian market with right products.

[@Vickys11]

Citroen can do a lot much better if they provide proper quality & features.

[@NamitKumar-xg4cb]

Sir Kindly ask Tata maruti Hyundai To Give illuminated power windows switches And Driver side grab handle It will certainly cost something but very minimal . Thanks

[@badarikrishna3169]

But you can’t justify the price of compass in any way. Refined but mediocre engine, Good build quality but size comparable to Creata and Seltos (put not the price), Plush it was once but competition has already caught up.

[@Newbutold]

VW and Skoda cars have this..

[@yourtechbuddy7880]

Grab handles are not for drivers they should not remove thoer hands fr the steering and no brand offers grab handle for the driver

[@absash7838]

That blue Punto 😍. Of course the tata dealership it was and it is the same way today.

[@superclips4329]

Post Covid, the Indian customer wants more value even after paying over 48% in GST and taxes for a car. So Citroen & Stellantis, remember that, absorb that and stop shipping outdated products to the Indian customer!

[@ganeshanayak3502]

Very informative as always..

[@Delicious_desert97]

Easiest way to survive is to just join hands with well performing brands, Toyota surving with muruti Suzuki products, Renault and Nissan surviving together, kia just following Hyundai strategies.

[@lagankhurana]

Please make video on chevorlet brand journey in india

[@AyushK7318]

Still looking forward to Jeep Renegade after 4 years! Even though there is no chance considering they have C3

[@riteshchakraborty1019]

Eagerly waiting for a podcast on Renault India ,their vision, plan in the yeasr to come

[@yourharish]

We are using the C3 for 2 years. The engine and suspension are just great. The infotainment is great. Seat comfort could be better. They just over did the seat cushioning . Could take time to get used to

[@carobsessions4707]

We want Fiat back with the same fun to drive solid tank High speed stability Best in segment ride quality Known for real car lovers

[@kartrak09]

Brilliant discussion. Absolutely loved it. And I own a Citroen C3 Aircross which is an absolute pleasure to drive. Fabulous car to drive, but I completely agree that Citroen did get their market research totally off on how premium the interiors should be or what features it should have, at least for the top variant. Anyway, very glad to know that the brand Citroen is looking to go the long distance in India. Basalt has a lot riding on it and a future C3 Aircross refresh as well would do them well. But marketing definitely needs to step up big time.

[@karanhemani1468]

Wow, it seemed like Stallantis was a sinking ship in India but this video was an eye opener about the company. Kudos for coming up with such great content

[@Pijush5]

Wonderful discussion as always with these two. I feel some of brands are very slow to market changes because of bottom-line focus. You will not have bottom-line if you don't have volumes.

[@GhostRider-sz9eo]

Why dont they leapmotor cars as FIATs further cd road in bringing proper fiats in future. Coz given the premium feel of jeep few prize tags and vehicles not justified

[@NathanSubramani]

Will stellantis/citreon bring their hybrid power train to India ?.. That would really appeal and will be a VFM product if they have better safety rating.

[@SunilBhalla1304]

I loved them interiors of c3

[@mohithmaddineni434]

No showroom in Bengaluru. Booked a C3 aircross test drive 3 weeks ago on their website. Call center reached out and said will arrange. Waiting for 2 weeks now.

[@Shiv_eclaireur]

30:24 their designs are good and their cars are really good. Whoever bought this, everyone agreeing this without regret.

[@VickyKumar-sg3jc]

Didn’t talked about jeep avenger, greatest potential for indian market 4080mm, can be brought under 4000mm with little bumper alterations to be perfect fit Indian mass market

[@rajarshighosh8813]

But jeep has Grand Cherokee and Wrangler. Total 4 product in their portfolio in India. What about the jeep avenger?

[@RabbilChoudhary]

hey autocar, love this podcast. The headlines that show up in the bottom left corner get lost behind the subtitles. Can you guys please put these headlines in the center and a little above so that it doesn't clash with where the subtitles are? That would be perfect. The headlines would be perfectly visible then. ✌️

[@autocarindia1]

Hi. We're trying a solution!

[@swapnilsaraf5076]

I feel the best brand that can bring glory back is Fiat if they can bring good competitive car, but then they are so bad with their management

[@venkateshshanbhag8310]

Any news about Ambassador Comeback?

[@DipinManmadhan]

PSA messed up huge with Citroen. They got all the fundamental things right - Engines, Chase, Driving dynamics, suspension. But they underestimated Indian market and cheaped-out on features that resulted in a pretty bad initial impression. Also they skipped few key additions which could've improved safety ratings by a lot.

[@danishgarg]

The only thing going for compass is its looks. Even though the engine is decent, it's not a comfortable car by any stretch. It does handle well but I found the suspension to be too stiff for bad roads. It's a true suv if you take comfort out of the equation (which one should if SUV is the intended use). Using the citroen platform may change this but then time will tell what impact will that have on handling.

[@MrKshitij]

They shouldn’t have taken away Fiat from India. Citroen, although launched with good product, they got the crash test rating going to their disadvantage at a time where the consumers are paying attention to that parameter. Poor poor strategy.

[@ravishankarreddy1591]

It should not be too difficult to get a 2.0 NA petrol engine to the Jeep compass with smooth torque converter

[@nevergiveupinlife7438]

Awesome

[@bakuljavadekar6767]

The main reason for Fiat failing in India is that their cars were too heavy! This reduced their performance as well as fuel efficiency. It also made the cars costlier. Other reasons were lack of interior space and lack of features.

[@pjr7270]

I also heard they are making luxury ev cars under HM partnership.

[@tankachen]

I think Citroen has the best engineers and the worst marketing people on the market

[@langhukoni4159]

People I meet often believe that the jeep maintenance is way too high though they liked the car. Even I own one but friends keep warning me about the services, maintenance. I hope stellantis r aware of the services they have to provide n brings trust. Jst did my 1st service n quite nervous for the future.

[@tanmay0311]

Compass base model costs almost 25 lakhs on road in many Indian states. How do you expect it to compete with Mahindra and Tata?

[@nitinagarwal8325]

I feel somehow safety in cars is also a play which citroen have completely missed!!!

[@pramodhkumar4148]

Did stellantis miss out by not bringing in the Peugeot or opel instead of relatively lesser known citroen?

[@rajivranjansinghsingh9761]

I seriously feel Citroen is going to do really well in future.Does anyone know any company associated with Citroen listed in Indian stock market...?

[@sk-dr8zu]

JEEP, a word, is perceived over the decades among the general Indian population as a class or segment of vehicles capable of offroading and hill commuting.. That's even actually half true, though, because in the past, lots of brands manufactured JEEP cars.. Now let's talk about Stellantis.. without properly understanding the people mindset and about what they expect in a typical JEEP, Stellantins just working around with capitalising the word "JEEP". without any doubt, current jeep lineup is fabulous in terms of features and comfort, but that's not a unique factor as features, tech, and confort can be seen all over the automobile brands. in simple words, now JEEP is not a JEEP what people expect in a JEEP..

[@captainsambit]

With terrible sales results and recent price revisions, it scares me for sure being an existing Jeep Compass owner. With their brand image, Jeep must for sure look at launching something more valuable with great interiors rather than continuing with Compass any longer. They can’t keep slashing the price.

[@harshitbaweja5594]

We need a podcast on VAG

[@dilerhero1520]

Where is dodge

[@user-sr2fv6if6y]

Make a podcast on TATA reliability and manufacturing defects problem

[@sureshkishore]

Have owned a 1997 Peugeot and Fiat Uno. Excellent cars in the time very solid. But the service was horrible. Loved the Citroen C5 Aircross . But have burnt my hands twice can't do it again. Italian and French cars are really great to own only if you ignore the service experience. Nowadays people dont bother much about fuel efficiency because the price of a liter of petrol to your average earnings has become so low.

[@punnia123]

Rather than citroen they should have brought fiat and opel.....theses brands have historical value in the Indian market....

[@TheArnova]

why is no-one talking about Jeep Avenger? This car would sell like anything in India. And it has also been marked as the car of the year outside our country.

[@Sheela9999]

By bringing budget models --- they are killing there brand in india -- budget people will always go with maruti and Hyundai

[@ovr909vlogs]

JEEP is a brand which is in the heart of india but company does not want to sell. What a shame .

[@danmathewluke5727]

The Jeep compass is a solid car. If you ask me India needs more options for premium strong hybrid vehicles till the charging infrastructure is sensible enough to own a fully electric vehicles. Just see how many hybrid innovas are on the road? I would any day pimp up my innova hybrid than buy a more expensive ride that adds to the already badly polluted cities and towns. If possible Jeep should launch the Compass Hybrid in india as its offered in the UK.

[@autocarindia1]

Prefer to hear the Autocar India Deep Drive Podcast? Listen on: Spotify: spoti.fi/44re4Z5 Apple Podcast: apple.co/4dm563o Amazon Music: amzn.to/4blq94k

[@classicmodification2902]

Still own a linea petrol 2010 model I hope they bring back fiat instead of citron and all

[@prathameshbirajdar8778]

Every manufacturer should have cng option

[@ravjeetraina7756]

A new brand is bought by people with knowledge of global automotive market and citron c3 scored zero in global N cap

[@knownfortheunknown]

simple for Citroen and Jeep they need to change Car prices, features and upgrades

[@parikshatsrivastava4816]

I own a Jeep Meridian and want to move to Jeep Meridian facelifted. What plans Stellantis has for Meridian.

[@pratiquewtf]

where can one buy The Autocar mug?

[@barbequesandwich4853]

They should bring the Avenger here. Would sell very well.

[@asitkhanda]

These foreign brands need to stop underestimating Indian audience. Even after all the failures, they just need to undermining us and keep blaming other factors for their own failures. I am happy to see that Hyundai/KIA and Toyota learned their mistakes and are doing good by respecting the Indian audience.

[@rangareddy365]

Stellantis has Ambassador Marque (Brand) and could have use this citroen's c cube platform and some of ambassador's design in retro and modern way to bring ICE and Ev vehicles in different bodystyles like sedan, hatchback, SUV and MPV and also in different categories( sub 4M, 4.3M) but Nah! there won't do it because of there cost cutting mindset and good luck for them as later on the younger generations don't even no the Ambassador brand and there investment of 80 cr in buying this brand goes in total loss

[@kalyansankardawn5188]

Doesn't it boil down to the topic of Indian economy, where the gap has widened so much that one side we have Mercedes Benz BMW Volvo Audi customers, and on the other side we have Maruti Suzuki Hyundai Mahindra etc

[@AJASP.K]

Meridian would have got good customers if the third row was something usable atleast for Kids.

[@ars411]

Aftersales service, availability and prices of spare parts. Long term survival of the brand. I am Chevrolet owner 😅

[@venkatesanramakrishnan2726]

If Citroen cars had all the bells and whistles, trust me, it would been a hit by now and KIA would've been worried. Only when brands realize what Indian customers want, they can be successful. Ford was good until 1st gen Fiesta. They fell flat after that.

[@abe4985]

As a current Jeep Compass owner & someone who has lived & owned a car in US, I have come to understand that most global brands will struggle selling to so called middle-class of India since Indians choose features over aesthetics and performance, money over safety and overall car ownership is driven by a status mentality rather than a need-based mentality. Compass is an amazing car but Indian mindset is quantity over quality, it is in their DNA & they are reluctant to evolve as well. All global players should use India primarily as export hub and focus on a limited frugal presence in tier 1 cities only. That will give them bottomline to sustain. More money is in tech partnerships and OEM components rather than selling cars. Sony makes more money selling camera sensors than it made from phones. A similar model for automotive industry is the future

[@mackisbrocklesnar]

Citroen wants to play mass market game? make electric C3 a little bit polished, tie up with banks for good deals and sell to cab drivers. it can be a new WagonR

[@shaaakings]

Citrogen needs come up with automatic and led lights

[@ashokpatelk]

Sir .... Is CITRON had any type of study of Indian Car Big Market ...Before introduced ..Citron C3 Aircross ....? U have already EV Infrastucture in INDIA..Why not introduced first EV OR HYBRID model of C3 Aircross ? That time no any company have big size EV like C3 Aircross size .....Stll not but U mis big opportunity to enter in India with C3 Aircross EV/HYBRID.....As per me now very tough situation for CITRON to establish in Indian Car Market.i

[@petercarey5857]

Citroen cars are fantastic!

[@CinCinatiBablaBoo]

Sir alto best hai ❤ end of debate ❤ lord alto haye haye hoye hoye ❤

[@saavarigirigiri]

One of the dumbest decision is to bring a new brand citroen when they have. A established brand FiAT cars. Only thing needed wad good new models. Instead they stopped it and brought a unknown brand.

[@shankarbalan3813]

Jeep is a superb brand. Sadly that have spoilt their own game here. They should have brought the Renegade into India in 2018-2019 itself. Aditya Jairaj is a typical Corporate Honcho. He is NOT a Jeep Guy. Apart from Corporate Speak he is NOT a guy who lives and breathes JEEP. Citroen - another lovely brand. It has just never found its metier in India and probably never will, despite the brand’s excellent engineering and suspension and all. These brands cannot figure out the consumer psyche here the way the Japanese first did and the way the Koreans figure out later.

[@vivekanandpattar1607]

WEN WLL BE TE AMBASSADOR LAUNCN

[@danishgarg]

I don't know what is so great about c3's engines. I test drove both the engines back to back with Tata punch. All 3 cylinders are expected to have a slightly worse nvh than their equivalent 4 cylinder counterparts, but c3's engines were exceptionally bad at this. Both petrol engines feel like driving a truck. I could feel the vibrations on the steering wheel, the gear lever as well as the pedals. By comparison punch felt like a magic carpet. I think Vw makes the most refined 3 cylinders, nobody comes close. So I don't think marketing is their problem. I had high expectations from Citroen when I was in the market especially after driving their ds3 cabrio in uk but I was utterly disappointed with their engines here in India

[@DipinManmadhan]

I've driven all these three engines as well. Only thing going for Punch is NVH levels. But that engine is dull compared to Citroen's NA. Which is more lively on highway. and with C3 Turbo, we cannot even bring Punch NA into discussion.

[@aatmasath]

They think Indian buyers are still in 90s, and they are totally wrong

[@Sheela9999]

C5 was the best product which they should have launched at 18lakhs which they miseraly failed with

[@sarathmadathil4029]

Get the jeep renagade in a great price point with diesel auto, overnight jeep will be a grand success.

[@kallully]

These are not going to sell whatever they do because people are not sure how long they will operate in India. Examples like Ford and Chevrolet are in front of us. Lack of widespread sales network is also a factor.

[@rajoosolanky780]

Jeep compass & Meridian expensive pricing against poor brand image. At the same time unaffordable or high costs of Maintenance alongwith poor Service Stn network. Unless they highly localise both Jeep & Meridian to make it affordable to Indian buyers. Also reduce their cost of Spares, Labour charges & affordable Servicing Costs. They might not survive for long in India.

[@dangerdaaku]

Just so that people understand - Jeeps are not selling in the USA either. They are at the bottom of the pile for reliability.

[@vinaybati4606]

If someone is hearing in Citroen and if they have the strength to hear, " the cars are a shit to look at". The person who envisioned and designed the looks of the front bumper doesn't have indian perspective of beautiful Car design. Person who is deciding on features to be offered is not up to date, he/she lags by a decade, Front of the car is the face of car, if it doesn't look good then it won't draw people to showroom. If the draw isn't there, then don't blame the salesperson/dealer. Please change the alloy wheels, 4spoke isn't pleasing, give atleast 5 spokes. French eyes and Indian eyes are way different, look at Indian temples.

[@Amit_Kumar_Trivedi]

They (group) need someone with good understanding of middle class in Bharat and strong in technology as product manager!

[@rraj29]

Really missing fiat

[@Ajayvishnu23]

❤❤❤

[@rajdeepnath1633]

And what will power a 4x4 EV jeep in the himalayas or winter spiti? A Diesel generator? 😂