Increasingly strict emission regulations in Europe are forcing manufacturers to produce electric vehicles. With the looming exit of the EU, eyes turned to Turkey and the country became a key market. Citroen CEO Cobee said that the heavy regulations in Europe had made the market passive that Turkey would be solved faster. Cobee said: “Turkey will be our first market for internal combustion engines. We plan to allocate the capacity to Mediterranean countries like Turkey and Israel,” he said.
ALI YILDIRIM
As Europe undergoes rapid transformation in the wake of the pandemic, the tough emissions decisions made have accelerated the transformation of automakers. The new standards, which will come into effect in 2025, have accelerated EV sales by manufacturers. Because of this, brands have started to restrict sales of internal combustion engines as much as possible.
Therefore, importance is attached to the export of models that cannot be sold in Europe, while Turkey is one of the key markets for the combustion engine option. Answering our questions at the launch of Citroen C4 X in Spain, Citroen CEO Vincent Cobee and Citroen Turkey General Manager Selen Alkım shared remarkable messages about the Turkish market. Cobee stressed that Turkey will be the first market with the C4 X, saying that Europe has strict regulations, so the European market is a bit more passive. Expressing that Turkey is not like that, Cobee shared that the country was being broken up faster.
Cobee said that Citroen will be the first market for sales of internal combustion engines in Turkey: “Therefore, we plan to allocate internal combustion engine capacities to Mediterranean countries such as Turkey and Israel. Then there are Morocco and Japan. Of course, Turkey is supported in this sense. A very severe economic crisis is expected in Europe. It is clear that there will be a transition to electric vehicles. Combustion engines will be reduced,” he said. Stressing that they believe in Turkey’s potential, Cobee continued: “60 percent of the C4 X in the European market will be electric. We will only sell electric vehicles in 14 European markets. As far as internal combustion engine sales are concerned, Turkey will be the first market. I believe Turkey will be bigger than Spain. Spain is still a big market for these engines, but Turkey has even more potential.”
IF DOMESTIC MARKET STRENGTHENS, WE WILL MANUFACTURE
Vincent Cobee stated that the domestic market needed to be strengthened in order to produce and said only then could investment come to the table. Cobee said: “To be able to produce in Turkey, we need to be among the top 5 in the domestic market and reach the domestic market with 80,000 units. Only then can we put production on our agenda. This is not a dream, but a process that can be realized over time.”
Selen Alkım, on the other hand, emphasized that the goal this year is 49,250 units and that in 2025 they will reach 80,000 units. Alkım said: “Actually, this goal is not far from us. Turkey will be affected by the economic crisis in Europe. The sales that stopped there will continue here and sales will increase while accelerating the EU electrification process. That is why Turkey will step on the gas with the internal combustion engine,” he said.
I SAY CLEARLY THAT THE TURKISH MARKET IS NOT PROFITABLE
Vincent Cobee said that understanding the Turkish market is very difficult: “It’s an interesting market. I saw unexpected events. We brought the electric AMI. I wasn’t expecting success, but we were sold out. But that’s a fact, I’ll say that very clearly. The Turkish market is not profitable. We sell but no profit. Because the competition is big. The old parking lot is big. And there are domestic manufacturers. Tax policy is also quite complex. The difference between AMI’s European price and Turkey’s price shows this.”
“One fifth of sales will be the new C4 X”
Selen Alkım expressed that the new C4 X is an important part of the overall sales targets: “One of every five Citroen models we sell will be the new C4 X. Our goal is to sell around 10,000 C4 Xs in 2023, but we reckon there’s much more serious potential here. If we get the shipment, we think we can sell up to 15,000 units of the new C4 X in 2023. I also have to say that the fleet potential for the C4 X is as high as for private customers. In other words, if we buy additional units, we can strengthen both trade and the fleet.”
“POWER SHARE IS 10 PERCENT”
Selen Alkım expressed that they broke new ground with Citroen C4 X and said that they offer petrol, diesel and electric models together. Alkım said: “We believe that this will also offer tremendous freedom of choice. We expect that 10 percent of new C4 X sales will be the e-C4 X, the 100 percent electric version. In addition, we calculate a share of 55 percent for the petrol version and 35 percent for the diesel version,” he said.
‘AMI SALES WILL EXCHANGE 3X’
Assessing last year, Selen Alkım, General Manager of Citroen Turkey, stated that their goal was 40,000 units in 2022, but these numbers could not be reached due to supply problems.
Alkım said: “Unfortunately, due to supply problems, we have completed around 29,000 units in 2022. Of course, I don’t include AMI in that number. Of the 29,000 sales, around 22,000 were passenger cars and around 7,000 commercial vehicles. Of course, if we add AMI sales to that number, our total sales in 2022 will reach 30,000. In light commercial vehicles, we grew by 11 percent in 2022. This is a good result for us. If you look at it, we’re the seventh country in total sales in the global ranking, but we’re fifth in the list of brands and countries for commercial vehicles, which was a good result for us. If only there had been more deliveries, we would have had much higher results. In 2023, as Citroen Turkey, we want to achieve 49,250 sales of passenger and commercial vehicles. And on top of that 3,000 AMIs for sale. At this point, the total sales of the brand exceed 50,000 units,” he said.
‘1000 UNITS ARRIVE WITHOUT HAVING DONE THE PRICE’
The new Citroen C4 X took off in Turkey. The model, whose worldwide launch took place in Madrid, Spain, was offered for sale with 3 different engine types as petrol, diesel and electric. The starting price of the vehicle was set at 722,000 lire. The model that we were also allowed to use in Spain is as if it brought together 3 different bodies. With coupe, sedan and crossover designs, the segment that the car appeals to is pretty broad. Selen Alkim, Managing Director of Citroën Turkey, said: “Our first batch stocks are already almost gone. We had a thousand pre-orders. We sold it with pre-order before the price was announced,” he said.
‘360 KILOMETERS ELECTRIC RANGE’
While different trim levels are offered on the C4 X 4: Feel, Feel Bold, Shine and Shine Bold, the electric e-C4 X can only be preferred with the Shine Bold version, the highest trim level option. Rich trim models are only offered with a manual 1.2-liter petrol option at the entry-level. The C4 X’s 1.2 PureTech engine delivers 100 hp and 205 Nm of torque with a 6-speed manual gearbox, while the EAT8 has 130 hp and 230 Nm of torque with an 8-speed automatic gearbox.
On the diesel front, the 130 hp version of the 1.5-liter unit is only available with the automatic option. The electric ë-C4 X has 136 hp. The battery capacity of 50 kWh can be charged from 10 percent to 80 percent in 30 minutes at fast charging stations (Fast DC-100 kW). With an energy consumption of 15.3 kWh/100 km, the range of the e-C4 X is 360 kilometers.
#Strict #rules #Europe #Turkey #market
No comments:
Post a Comment