For the first electric version of its flagship city car, Citroën has chosen to cut prices in a market that is still too often inaccessible for many households.
Citroën kept its promise. Its C3, sold more than 5 million copies worldwide since its birth in 2002, will arrive on the electric market at an unbeatable price. For the chevron brand, whose sales are losing momentum (-14% in 2022), the commercial success of its small fourth-generation city car is essential. Its strategy of cutting prices follows from this.
Presented at the start of autumn, the new C3 will be anything but a copy and paste of its predecessor. With its new look, with less rounded curves, the brand’s best-seller now resembles a mini SUV (4m01 in length). Inside, although more spacious, its equipment is nothing revolutionary. But that’s not where Citroën wanted to surprise. It is through its prices that the manufacturer intends to attract attention. It is no coincidence that Citroën revealed the entry price of its new ë-C3 on the day of its presentation, a rather rare occurrence in the automotive world.
Soon the cheapest electric car on the market? The new ecological bonus will favor it
So, what will be the price of the first electric C3, expected on our roads in the first quarter of next year? In the basic You finish, the ë-C3 and its 44 kWh battery for an estimated range of 320 kilometers will be sold for 23,300 euros. For comparison, the Dacia Spring, the cheapest car on the electric market, today costs 20,800 euros. The new Fiat is worth 10,000 more (30,400). With the ecological bonus, from which the C3 will still benefit in 2024, the Citroën city car will increase to 18,300 euros, and even to 16,300 euros for households with the lowest incomes.
The new ë-C3 should also be one of the big winners from the upcoming entry into force of the highly anticipated “environmental score”, which will define the vehicles eligible for the ecological bonus from 1er January 2024. Because if the city car, manufactured in Slovakia near Trnava, will always be affected by the bonus, this will not be the case for everyone. And in particular the Dacia Spring, assembled in China, whose buyers will no longer benefit from government aid in a few weeks. The C3 could therefore well become the cheapest electric city car on the market. And by being eligible for the bonus, the electric city car will be offered under social leasing, at 100 euros per month. Enough to attract new customers, interested in 100% electric but hitherto held back for budgetary reasons.
And Citroën will go even further very soon. In 2025, a more urban ë-C3 will be equipped with a smaller battery for an announced range of 200 kilometers. Here too, the manufacturer has already revealed its price: 19,900 euros excluding bonuses. With the state bonus, electricity will then be accessible for less than 15,000 euros.