1973 Citroen Sm on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Scrapyard Gem: 2006 Citroen Xsara Picasso Desire

YORK, England — By the time our current century got started, most American car shoppers had become fully committed to pickups and SUVs as their preferred rides. Cross the Atlantic at that time, however, and you'd find that the compact MPV was one of the most popular choices for Western European drivers seeking plenty of passenger and cargo space in a small package. The Citroen Xsara Picasso was one of the best-selling compact MPVs of its era, and I've found this '06 in a self-service scrapyard (as they call them here) in York, England. It has been 51 years since new Citroens were sold in the United States, and so I've only managed to document a handful of them during my junkyard travels. Citroen began building cars in 1918, merged with Peugeot in 1974 and became part of the mighty Stellantis Empire in 2021. How did it happen that Citroen is allowed to place Pablo Picasso's famous signature on its cars? In 1989, Pablo's son sold the rights to Citroen for $20 million. The brochures for this car bear down very hard on the Pablo Picasso connection. Although the Xsara Picasso never came close to being sold in the United States, here's one in the brochure negotiating the Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange in Los Angeles (where the bus-jump scene in 1994's "Speed" took place). The California high desert in 2006, where cops in 15-year-old box Caprices hide behind Picasso billboards in order to bust speeding Citroens. The U.K.-market 2006 Xsara Picasso was available in Desire, VTX and Exclusive trim levels. This one is the base Desire model. These badges now live on my garage wall. For a car that weighed well under 3,000 pounds, the Xsara Picasso offered an amazing amount of interior space. There's room for five inside, with airliner-style folding tables for the rear-seat passengers; those rear seats are removable to make room for bulky cargo. This type of vehicle never caught on in North America, despite the best efforts of Japanese manufacturers. The Xsara Picasso was succeeded by the C4 Picasso, which has since evolved into the kind of crossover SUV that would look right at home on American roads. It took awhile, but the SUV craze finally has conquered Europe. The Xsara Picasso was one of the first vehicles designed by Donato Coco, who went on to work at Ferrari and Lotus. In addition to his work designing many Citroen models, Coco was behind the styling of the Ferrari 458 Italia.

Stellantis reports surprising 2020 results, is 'off to a flying start'

MILAN — Low global car inventories and cost cuts should boost Stellantis's profit margins this year, though a shortage of semiconductors and investments in electric vehicles could weigh on results, the newly-formed automaker said on Wednesday. The forecast came as Stellantis, created by the January merger of Peugeot-maker PSA and Fiat Chrysler (FCA), reported better-than-expected results for 2020 that sent its shares up around 3% in morning trading. "Stellantis gets off to a flying start and is fully focused on achieving the full promised synergies (from the merger)," Chief Executive Carlos Tavares said in a statement. Stellantis is the world's fourth largest carmaker, with 14 brands including Fiat, Peugeot, Opel, Jeep, Ram and Maserati. It said 2021 results should be helped by three new high-margin Jeep vehicles in North America and a strong pricing environment there. The U.S. market has driven profits for years at FCA and starts off as the strongest part of Stellantis. The group's guidance assumes no more significant lockdowns caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, which shuttered auto plants around the world last spring. Stellantis should also get a lift as its starts to implement a plan aimed at delivering over 5 billion euros a year in savings, without closing any plants. Tavares has also pledged not to cut jobs. But a pandemic-related global shortage of semiconductors, used for everything from maximizing engine fuel economy to driver-assistance features, could hurt business. Auto industry executives have said the shortage should ease by the second half of 2021. Stellantis said its "electrification offensive" could also weigh on results this year. Automakers are racing to develop electric vehicles to meet tighter CO2 emissions targets in Europe and this week Volvo joined a growing number of carmakers aiming for a fully-electric line-up by 2030. Stellantis plans to have fully-electric or hybrid versions of all of its vehicles available in Europe by 2025, broadly in line with plans at top rivals such as Volkswagen and Renault-Nissan, although Stellantis has further to go to meet that goal. The carmaker is targeting an adjusted operating profit margin of 5.5%-7.5% this year. That compares with a 5.3% aggregated margin last year: 4.3% at FCA and 7.1% at PSA excluding a controlling stake in parts maker Faurecia, which is set to be spun-off from Stellantis shortly.

Citro?n names new CEO in executive shuffle

Peugeot SA (otherwise known as PSA Peugeot Citroën) has been shaking things up in the top echelon of its executive ranks. It recently hired former Renault COO Carlos Tavares as its group chief executive and former Airbus chief Louis Gallois as chairman. Now it's announced two more top executive appointments.
First up is Linda Jackson, who steps into the role as CEO of the Citroën brand. Jackson had until now been managing director of Citroën in the UK and Ireland, a job she's held since 2010, and comes with over 35 years of experience in the industry. She replaces Fréderic Banzet who is taking up a new role in the Peugeot family's holding company FFP that controls, among other assets, 19 percent of PSA.
While Jackson will now be responsible for the Citroën brand itself, operation of the DS sub-brand is being handed to Yves Bonnefont, who is being promoted from his current position as group strategy director and deputy Citroën brand chief.