Citroen DS Reviews

One of the biggest car makers in the world has reportedly forked out billions in warranty claims over the past year. Stellantis, parent company of brands like Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Peugeot and Jeep has paid out the equivalent of more than $10 billion in global warranty expenses for the 2025/26 financial year. This tough reliability run has seen Stellantis begin a complete reset of its processes to get on track. The big news out of this reset is that the brand will launch its first model riding on its new STLA One platform next year. The brand said the platform will underpin up to 30 new vehicles in the small and mid-size SUV categories. This will equate to more than two million sales annually by the time 2035 comes around. Stellantis also said it is targeting improvements to quality even before this new platform gets underway. “If we do the right things earlier in the program, that means that when we get closer to launch we’ll have fewer problems,” Stellantis propulsion systems testing and analysis lead Mark Christie told Auto News.  “The product life target for powertrain components is 10 years and 150,000 miles (about 240,00km).”The brand is plotting the launch of 23 new and updated models in the next four years across its portfolio. It has been a turbulent time for Stellantis in recent years with the departure of Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares and subsequent appointment of Antonio Filosa.The brand reported a $37 billion net loss earlier this year.Reports indicate focus will shift to Fiat, Jeep, Peugeot and Ram, but other brands in the group will benefit from the technology acquired.Peugeot recently unveiled its all-new E-208 GTI fully-electric hot hatch in what will be an early test for Stellantis' change of direction.  

Citroen has confirmed it is bringing back the iconic 2CV as an electric vehicle (EV) targeted at the European market.The French carmaker’s CEO Xavier Chardon announced this at Stellantis’ Investor Day 2026, which was held in Michigan, USA.“Icons create emotion. Icons reconnect brands with people, and today one icon is about to return. Yes, the 2CV is back,” said Chardon.This revived 2CV EV will be made in Italy from 2028 and be priced from under €15,000 (~A$24,385).Sitting underneath the existing e-C3, this will give Citroen a key rival to the likes of the Dacia Spring and Leapmotor T03, among others.As part of the Investor Day presentation, a teaser image of this new 2CV was flashed up. It features all the classic exterior design traits including flared wheel arches, circular headlights and a rounded rear.At this stage it’s unclear if this new Citroen 2CV EV will be offered outside of Europe.It’s worth noting that the Citroen brand was axed in Australia back in 2024 after 101 years of selling cars Down Under.The Citroen 2CV is one of the French carmaker’s most iconic vehicles it has ever produced.With development pre-dating World War II, the 2CV entered production in 1948 and continued in certain markets until 1990.At launch the 2CV was powered by a 375cc air-cooled two-cylinder engine producing 6.6kW, however larger and more powerful engines replaced it over time.A wide range of body styles were offered, including passenger, van and pick-up utes.Despite being a huge sales success in Europe, among other parts of the road, only a few examples of the 2CV made their way to Australia.

Jeep and Peugeot parent company Stellantis has announced a plan to launch 110 new or refreshed vehicles by 2030, including 60 brand new models, as part of sweeping changes to the business, which include an optimised manufacturing footprint and tweaks to the company’s partnerships and platform strategy.This wide-reaching set of changes is part of a grander plan Stellantis dubs FaSTLAne 2030 in order to “maximise capital efficiency, avoid duplicate spending, and support profitability”.Stellantis will optimise its global factories, accelerate research and development to reduce model cycles to 24 months rather than the current 40 months, and sharpen its pencil on cost competitiveness and quality.In terms of where its portfolio of 14 brands will sit in this plan, the company said it will focus on four global brands: Jeep, Ram, Peugeot and Fiat.It said Chrysler, Dodge, Citroen, Opel and Alfa Romeo are “regional brands”, while its luxury European arms, DS and Lancia, will be managed by Citroen and Fiat respectively and “developed as specialty brands”.Maserati will be “strengthened” with a plan including two new large vehicles to be announced at a later date.The realignment will also see Stellantis’ platform strategy sharpened, with the group planning 50 per cent of its global volume to be on just three platforms as it continues to consolidate its global portfolio, which was previously split between the US market and Europe where the company is strongest.It specifically earmarked its STLA One platform as being the primary growth driver. This new modular platform is expected to underpin a huge percentage of the company’s global model footprint in much the same way as Volkswagen Group’s MQB and MEB platforms currently do, and will seemingly replace the current CMP and EMP2 (aka STLA Small and Medium) platforms it inherited from PSA. It will be the first platform to roll in all of the brand’s latest tech, like the STLA Brain computing system, STLA SmartCockpit UI system and new steer-by-wire technology.The company says the STLA One platform will launch in 2027, has the ability to cover small to upper-mid-sized vehicles, and will allow the brand to reduce complexity across much of its line-up.It is capable of supporting multiple levels of electrification from hybrid to full EV, and will have an 800-volt electrical architecture.By 2035, STLA One will underpin 30 new models and is expected to account for two million sales.It will also come with a realignment of its manufacturing presence. Stellantis will reduce its capacity in Europe by 800,000 units, re-purposing factories, while increasing production in the US, the Middle East, and Africa, with a goal of at least 80 per cent utilisation.Meanwhile, it will lean on its partnership with Leapmotor for more expansion in the Asia Pacific region, which it described as an “asset-light” region.Partnerships of previously unprecedented scale will help Stellantis toward its goal, with existing deals opening doors for Leapmotor and Dongfeng to manufacture cars in Stellantis facilities in Europe.The partnership with Dongfeng, which also works with Nissan, will form the basis for two new Peugeot and two new Jeep models.Meanwhile, the recently-inked memorandum of understanding with both Indian giant Tata and its Jaguar Land Rover unit will open more doors for Stellantis in India, and JLR in the US where it hopes to side-step tariff requirements.Locally, Stellantis’ historic brands and even its new Leapmotor portfolio are struggling to make an impact on Australia’s more-competitive-than-ever new car landscape.Jeep, once the crown jewel of the group’s offering Down Under, has taken a battering year-to-date, down 65 per cent to just a handful of sales (249 units) made up predominantly of its signature Wrangler off-roader.It is a similar case for Peugeot, which is down 32.3 per cent so far this year, moving 320 units, nearly half for its Partner van (142 units).The best performing brand under the Stellantis umbrella has, unsurprisingly, emerged as Leapmotor, which has had reasonable success in 2026 off the back of its competitively-priced B10 small SUV. Leapmotor has moved 420 units this year, up 116.5 per cent.

It’s been over five years now since COVID lockdowns started and in some way it feels like a lifetime ago. For a lot of people buying new cars during this period, however, there were long wait times. COVID lockdowns were a key reason for this, but another major reason for delays was the global shortage of semiconductors.

The first symptoms of serious market change are afoot. Not only did 2024 mark the end of a host of individual nameplates, it also saw the demand of one the oldest brands in Australia after decades of flagging sales. 

French brand Citroen came to Australia in 1923 but this year the brand has decided to quit Australia - and it's timing coudn't be worse.

Citroen has finally read the writing on the wall.

Meet the brands posting the biggest year-on-year declines as Australia's new car market permanently changes.

The obsession with ever-larger SUVs and dual-cab utes is not compatible with electric cars.

Peugeot and Citroen have announced huge price cuts on select models until July 31, 2024.Discounts include more than $25,000 off old stock of the Peugeot 508 plug-in hybrid sedan, $17,000 cut from the Citroen C5 X’s price, $15,000 for the C5 Aircross Sport and even up to $14,000 cut from MY24 Peugeot 3008s. These latest offers follow a massive $20,000 price cut on Peugeot's e-2008 electric car which cleared remaining stock within days – not weeks or months – ahead of the facelift’s introduction.The 508 can be had for $57,990 drive-away instead of the $76,990 before on-road costs price at release in 2022. The same car today with an unchanged 165kW PHEV that provides 55km of electric-only driving range lists at $81,610. Peugeot only has MY22 508 liftbacks on offer and none of the wagons. Peugeot sold 130 508s in 2022, 156 in 2023 and has registered 37 so far this year. The facelift is expected to arrive this year.  Citroen’s quirky C5 X Shine’s price has been slashed down to $45,990 drive-away, roughly a $17,000 saving over its $57,670 list price. It uses the same powertrain as petrol 508s, a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol with 133kW and 250Nm. In 2022 61 C5 X examples were registered, climbing to 68 in 2023 and sitting at 26 so far this year. A plug-in hybrid MY24 model is available via special order only.It is strange that Peugeot and Citroen have such dated floor stock in the country when companies like Toyota and Mazda are only just catching up with post-COVID demand. CarsGuide has contacted Peugeot Citroen Australia for comment.Citroen's more conventional mid-size SUV to rival the Toyota RAV4, the C5 Aircross, is on sale as well. MY23 examples are available from $44,990 drive-away, about a $15,000 saving on its $55,990 before on-road costs list price. Peugeot’s take on the same underpinnings is the 3008. It comes in three variants (unlike the sole-trim models above) with varying savings – in this case, they’re all on new MY24 models. The entry-level Allure can be had from $46,990 drive-away, that’s down about $7700 but it includes the $5990 Luxury pack (with Nappa leather, sunroof and more) for that price, bringing total savings to nearly $14,000.Other trims, including the GT ($50,990) and flagship GT Sport ($62,990, both drive-away), have more modest discounts of around $6000. The 3008 GT plug-in hybrid remains priced at full whack: $82,915 before on-road costs. Various discounts on vans – including more than $15,000 off the pre-facelift e-Partner electric van – are available. Even one of Peugeot’s freshest models, the 308 GT hatch, can be had for less than list with a circa $1000 saving thanks to a $46,990 drive-away price.