Tråd: Er det tid at sige farvel til den franske luksus bil?

Produktion af Citroen C6 standser i dag, markerer slutningen for den franske luksusbil som vi kender itToday 250 arbejderne bygge Citroen C6 Peugeot-Citroens Rennes fabrikken vil ned værktøjer til gode. Produktionen af den store salon vil ende, nogle syv år efter det blev lanceret.
Ved enhver foranstaltning var C6 et salg katastrofe. Samlede produktion kan have sneget sig over 20.000 barrieren af idag, men Thats hvad Citroen havde håbet på i et enkelt år. Salg i Det Forenede Kongerige buste formentlig ikke fire tal, hvilket gør den højre hånd drev samtale, en af de dyreste engineering øvelser i automotive historie.
Død af C6 er en væsentlig milepæl for den franske bilindustri. Dens bortgang markerer afslutningen på stor fransk luksusbil, et marked, en gang defineret af marques Delage, Boor og Avions Voisins. Selvfølgelig, på trods af så mange etablerede pre-WW2 luksus gør kollapse i begyndelsen af 1950 ' erne, formåede Citroen at genopfinde tanken om luksusbil med DS.
Vildt nyskabende i sin styling og engineering, DS var en af de mest succesfulde reinventions i auto historie. DS blev erstattet af CX (en edgily moderne fastback og gigantiske ejendom) og XM. Hverken stoppet Citroen glider ud, potentielt meget rentable, stor bil marked. Der var faktisk en fem år kløft mellem den XM døende og C6 går i produktion, hvilket tyder på at få projektet til at tilføje op på corporate regnearket var en vanskelig opgave.
Og nu Citroen joinforbindelser søster mærket Peugeot og Renault (hvem styrtede ingloriously ud af store bilmarkedet når særling Vel Satis blev dræbt i 2009) i ikke at have en ordentlig flagskib. National stolthed til side, betyder det noget?
Økonomisk, er det et stort hul i regnskabet, fordi Mercedes, BMW og Audi gøre betydelige margener på deres store biler. Så igen, dominerer de tyske big-tre helt de globale store og luksus segmenter, så franske er i godt selskab. Mere rammende, ignoreret de franske beslutningstagere fuldstændig præmie SUV boom, glip af et meget lukrativt marked, der ikke måske har været så badge-følsomme under sin formative år.
Måske er det denne vilje til at gøre tingene på deres egen måde, der har været ansvarlig for den store franske tre bliver langsomt bortvist fra det store bilmarked. Værre endnu, søster biler Pug 508 og Citroen C5 kunne endnu flettes med næste generations Vauxhall/Opel Insignia, fordi faldende salg og et faldende europæisk marked for ikke-premium store biler gør det svært at selv break-even.
Det er klart, det er et spørgsmål om overlevelse, som de franske bilproducenter ikke tillader sig at blive skubbet tilbage til de tynde margener, der tilbydes af de små og mellemstore massemarkedet segmenter. Citroens første skridt var at fightback ved at udnytte en DS navn og at skabe en ny sub brand, der vil kræve højere showroom priser. Hidtil der ser godt ud, selv om DS4 og 5 har mangler.
Hvad angår det store segmentet, Citroen ser ud til at have forladt Europa og er pining luksus håb på Kina, en massiv marked, der har en umættelig appetit på franske luksusvarer. Det gigantiske DS9 konceptet er beregnet til at vise, hvad en vifte-topping DS ville se ud. Mellem denne og DS3, theres masser af plads til udvidelse, herunder en DS SUV. Det kan være, at den franske luksusbil er flyttet mod øst at genopfinde sig selv og flygte fra tidligere skuffelser.
Og Citroen måtte bare lige trække ud carving et rentable plads i dette enorme marked. Men måske Renault bare gider ikke med forsøger igen at knække luksus-segmentet. Efter alt, hvis du kan slå en fire procent margin på en million Dacias, hvad punktet af jagter en 10 pct. margen på en 60.000 luxo-pramme?

Production of the Citroen C6 stops today, marking the end for the French luxury car as we know itToday the 250 workers building the Citroen C6 at Peugeot-Citroens Rennes factory will down tools for good. Production of the big saloon will end, some seven years after it was launched.
By any measure, the C6 was a sales disaster. Total production may have crept across the 20,000 barrier by today, but that is what Citroen was hoping for in a single year. Sales in the UK probably didnt bust four figures, making the right-hand-drive conversation one of the most expensive engineering exercises in automotive history.
The death of the C6 is a major landmark for the French car industry. Its demise marks the end of the big French luxury car, a market once defined by marques such as Delage, Delahaye and Avions Voisins. Of course, despite so many established pre-WW2 luxury makes collapsing by the early 1950s, Citroen did manage to re-invent the idea of the luxury car with the DS.
Wildly innovative in its styling and engineering, the DS was one of the most successful reinventions in auto history. The DS was replaced by the CX (an edgily modern fastback and giant estate) and the XM. Neither stopped Citroen from sliding out of the, potentially highly profitable, large car market. Indeed, there was a five year gap between the XM dying and the C6 going into production, suggesting that getting the project to add up on the corporate spreadsheet was a difficult job.
And now Citroen joins sister brand Peugeot and Renault (who crashed ingloriously out of the large car market when the oddball Vel Satis was killed off in 2009) in not having a proper flagship model. National pride aside, does it matter?
Financially, its a big hole in the accounts because Mercedes, BMW and Audi make significant margins on their large cars. Then again, the German big-three completely dominate the global large and luxury segments, so the French are in good company. More tellingly, the French makers completely ignored the premium SUV boom, missing out on a very lucrative market that might not have been so badge-sensitive during its formative years.
Perhaps it is this determination to do things their own way that has been responsible for the French big three being slowly expelled from the large car market. Worse still, sister cars the Pug 508 and Citroen C5 could yet be merged in with the next-generation Vauxhall/Opel Insignia because falling sales and a shrinking European market for non-premium large cars is making it hard to even break-even.
Clearly, it is a matter of survival that the French carmakers do not allow themselves to be pushed back into the wafer-thin margins offered by the small and medium mass-market segments. Citroens first move was to fightback by leveraging the DS name and creating a new sub-brand that will demand higher showroom prices. So far, thats looking good, though the DS4 and 5 have flaws.
As far as the large car segment is concerned, Citroen looks to have abandoned Europe and is pining its luxury hopes on China, a massive market that has an insatiable appetite for French luxury goods. The giant DS9 concept is intended to show what a range-topping DS would look like. Between that and the DS3, theres plenty of room for expansion, including a DS SUV. It might be that the French luxury car has moved east to reinvent itself and escape from past disappointments.
And Citroen just might just pull off carving a profitable space in that huge market. But maybe Renault just wont bother with trying again to crack the luxury segment. After all, if you can turn a four per cent margin on a million Dacias, whats the point of chasing a 10 per cent margin on a 60,000 luxo-barges?