Citroën will lean on its heritage and introduce more charismatic cars in a bid to fend off Chinese rivals - but will also take learnings from those newcomers in how to develop cars more quickly and efficiently.
The French brand's SUV-centric line-up and value positioning means it's among the most obviously exposed European 'legacy' marques to the rise of similarly positioned Chinese brands like Omoda, Jaecoo, Geely and Changan in its home region.
But CEO Xavier Chardon believes the brand's distinct attributes and rigid focus on customer demands stand it in good stead to maintain – and even grow – its market share.
Speaking to British journalists after Citroën released its sales performance for the first three months of 2026 (during which sales were up 10% globally, at 190,000, and 118% in the UK), Chardon acknowledged the rapid growth of certain Chinese brands in Europe but said he didn't expect it to impact Citroën's growth plans.
"We see the Chinese expanding in Europe. In the first quarter in the UK, you had very amazing breakthrough for Omoda and other brands," he said, referencing the huge sales volumes achieved by the Chery-owned marque and its Jaecoo sibling, "but it's not stopping us in gaining market share. We are expanding despite the Chinese."
Chardon pointed to the fact that Citroën sales are up 12% in Europe so far in 2026 as testament to the appeal of a core model line-up that has been totally refreshed over the last year - and said the French brand plans to "expand" on this "positive momentum" with further growth going into next year, despite the increasing market share of newcomers in its core segments.
"We had to face the Japanese expansion in Europe, then the South Koreans, and now we see that Chinese are coming," he said. "Of course, they are coming with very strong models, especially on plug-in hybrid and electric models, so for us it's just pushing us to be more active, to get out of our comfort zone and and offer products that are in line with customers' expectation."
Chardon said that Citroën will lean more strongly on its 107-year history of selling cars in Europe in a bid to firm up its standing in the market, ushering in a distinctive new design language and ensuring its cars are packaged and engineered to closely suit local customer demands.
"I think we are going for a different path compared to the to the Chinese: we have a heritage and we want to use it, and the second point is that we want to be 'clever and caring' - and I do not believe that each and every customer is looking for more and more technology. So that's why, in the current Citroëns and in the future models, you won't see multiple screens everywhere.
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