Citroen has commenced home deliveries of the C5 Aircross to customers who purchased the SUV via the company’s Citroën Buy Online digital retail platform. The carmaker had introduced its digital retail platform for the Aircross at the time of its launch. Deliveries of the C5 Aircross ordered via dealerships are also in full swing.
- First online ordered cars delivered in Surat, Hyderabad and Chandigarh
- Deliveries via showrooms commenced back in April 2021
- Online ordering and home deliveries facilitated in over 50 cities
Citroen says that under its online retail platform, customers get the option to customise their vehicle, along with availing of financing options, trading in their old vehicle, access to a digital sales advisor and getting the vehicle registered. Depending on the location, the vehicle is either delivered by the local La Maison dealership or by partners appointed to handle the last mile delivery in cities where dealerships are yet to open.
“In some cities wherever we have our dealers, our dealer remains our delivery partner. So all the vehicle delivery happens through the dealer. In the non-dealer locations, we have our other partners like Carwale, who are doing the last mile deliveries in some cities,” Saurabh Vatsa, Citroën brand head, India, said at a round table.
The first units of the digitally purchased C5 Aircrosses were delivered in Surat and Chandigarh, with Vatsa adding that a similarly delivery was being completed in Hyderabad.
“All of these customers who are coming in are coming in from non-dealer locations,” Vatsa commented on the orders being received over Citroen online channel.
Under its online purchasing platform, the carmaker says that customers will get deliveries of their vehicle at their doorstep directly from the factory, and fully registered.
Carmaker eyes enhancing service as volumes grow
Answering a question on the scale of delivery, Vatsa said that the company had introduced its online retail service with scalability in mind. “As the volumes grow, this last mile delivery will also be enhanced along with the volumes. We see no challenge on that because we have partners in various cities,” he said.
He added that as scale increases, so would the presence of dealerships in more cities, with each dealer acting as a partner for deliveries within the city and also within a circle outside the city. Since launch, Citroen has retailed 230 units of the Aircross in the month of its launch – April 2021 – with 41 vehicles being sold in May 2021.
Apart from the C5 Aircross, the C-Cube model range will be the brand’s next set of locally manufactured vehicles in India. The first offering will be a compact SUV that will launch in India sometime next year.
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