'We want to be different with a style everyone can appreciate'

At the new Citroën C3 drive in Goa, we had a chance to chat with Stellantis India CEO and MD, roland Bouchara, as well as Citroën Brand Head, Saurabh vatsa, about the new car and what’s new for the French automotive giant

- Aspi Bhathena & Jim Gorde

Car India (CI): The C3 looks spectacular. It’s different. More of an SUV than a hatchback from the stance of the car, isn’t it?

Roland Bouchara (RB): We are glad you say that. It is the USP we wanted to give it in terms of design of the car.

CI: Why is there no automatic option?

RB: Not yet. (laughs)

CI: There’s enough room for the 2.0-litre diesel under the bonnet, isn’t there?

Saurabh Vatsa (SV): (laughs) Diesels we will not be putting right now. You know what it is with diesels. With Euro 6.2d coming in, the prices of the vehicles will shoot up tremendously.

CI: What about hybrids? Are you considering hybrids at all?

SV: We’ve already said that with the C-Cubed we will have an EV next year, our [Stellantis] CEO [Carlos] Tavares announced that recently. And, on hybrids, the government doesn’t give any specific incentives and therefore it doesn’t make sense to bring any. We do have hybrid technology within Stellantis.

RB: Actually at the Stellantis group we have the whole technology ready to go, EV and whatever. And we will bring [them] into this market as soon as possible if it is the right technology. We can launch the “e-C3” if I may say.

CI: But is the EV really green, though?