Citroen is still in the process of laying out their plans with electric and hybrid cars and they are certainly thinking long term with electrified versions of all models by 2025.
If you thought that electric cars are the unpopular choice, then you might want just wanted to reconsider your opinion. The world had 3 million electric vehicles by the end of 2017, 5 million by the end of 2018, and it is expected that there would be as many as 13 million electric vehicles by the end of 2020. Citroen, who will be making their India debut by next year also seems to have drawn up their plans for electric cars and hybrid vehicles.
In fact, most manufacturers seem to be in a rush to have an electrification strategy on place to keep up with the rising demand and some have already defined their electric path. According to Linda Jackson, CEO Citroen, electrification is a key area for the company “By 2025, 100% of our vehicles will have an electric version or a hybrid version. So we’re making sure that we have all the hybrid and the electric vehicles ready for our customers”
Jackson went on to state that “The key thing for us is electrification and we’re in the midst of rolling out our electrification strategy. Which means, early next year we’ll be seeing the plug-in version of the C5 Aircross SUV.”
Most of these cars will be built on the “Efficient Modular Platform 2”. This platform was launched in Europe in 2013 and then in China in 2014 for internal combustion powertrains. The EMP2 replaced the former BVH2 platform. The EMP2 platform is dedicated to compact and premium vehicles including sedans, coupes, LAVs, SUVs and light commercial vehicles as well to ensure technological flexibility. This platform can be used for internal combustion vehicles as well as electric cars and hybrid vehicles on the same production line, thus ensuring optimal efficiency of production.
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Jackson says, “We will also be launching a new model next year which will have an electric version and every car that we launch from next year will have either an electric version or a hybrid version while also offering petrol and diesel.” Citroen is certainly thinking long term here.
Also Read : Citroen Is Developing a Hyundai Creta Rival For India; Launch in 2022
The PSA Group has already announced that they would be launching 15 new electrified vehicles in the next two years. Eight of them will be plug-in hybrids and some of them are DS 7 Crossback E-Tense 4×4, Peugeot 3008, Peugeot 508 and 508 SW, Citroen C5 Aircross and more. Looking at how things are developing for electric cars here in our country, Citroen might actually consider bringing one or two of their electric cars to our shores.
