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A success announced at the beginning of the year for the electric city car from Citroën, which would be among the least expensive plug-in cars in France. Problem: the ë-C3 is accumulating delays, to the point of perhaps leaving the social leasing system. The consequence could be dramatic for the finances of some buyers.
September 30, 2024. This is the delivery deadline for vehicles purchased under the 2024 social leasing program, which involved 50,000 cars at the beginning of the year. Announced at the end of 2023 for the poorest households, this scheme essentially made it possible to order a Citroën ë-C3 for around fifty euros per month, with no down payment.
For those who have the possibility of charging at home, it was an incredible boon. But the dream is turning into a nightmare, since as the end of September approaches, the Citroën ë-C3s are still not showing up in dealerships.
Knock-knock, who’s there? Still no Citroën ë-C3
The French manufacturer is far from being the first — and certainly not the last — to have to postpone deliveries of its vehicles. While sometimes this only means being able to drive your new car a little later than expected, it may be more serious for customers who fell for the ë-C3 as part of the social leasing at the beginning of the year.
In concrete terms, if the first rental payment is not received by the dealer before September 30, the car is excluded from social leasing. This means that the cumulative aid reaching 13,000 euros would only be 7,000 euros. Suffice to say that for the beneficiaries, this completely changes the situation.
Contacted by Automobile-PropreCitroën wanted to reassure by stating that deliveries should be able to be ensured following mass production in September 2024. The problem is that the Stellantis group has promised more than 40,000 cars under social leasing, a good number of which are Citroën ë-C3s. It appears impossible to deliver them all in the next 4 weeks.
Above all, production has still not started in the Slovakian factory in Trnava, although it was due to start in December 2023. The cause: software bugs. According to our information, the problems are linked to the Smart Car platform, designed by the Indian Tata, which does not use the same tools as Stellantis. This makes the last-minute finishing touches more complex than expected.
Even though Citroën claims to Challenges Now that social leasing customers will be delivered before the end of September, reality will catch up with the brand very quickly. Dealers have started a communication campaign aimed at customers to reassure them, indicating that if the delivery arrives after September, the manufacturer will cover the 6,000 euro difference.Let’s hope for Citroën’s sake that this does not affect thousands of vehicles, otherwise the bill would become very high.
Another solution would be to ask the government for an exemption. The thermal versions of the new C3 are not spared either, with delivery dates that have gradually slipped from summer 2024 to early 2025, a sign of production difficulties on all engines.
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