But where have the social leasing Citroën e-C3s gone?

While deliveries of the Citroën e-C3 are officially scheduled to begin in October 2024, the French manufacturer will first have to supply the models ordered via the government’s social leasing. The problem is that the deadline is fast approaching, and deliveries are still pending.

At the beginning of 2024, Citroën officially opened orders for its Citroën ë-C3, its new Electric compact SUV. With a starting price set at just €19,990 Once the ecological bonus of €4,000 was deducted, the latest product from the chevron brand quickly attracted consumer interest.

Especially since the Citroën ë-C3 has other assets to assert, starting with its rather decent autonomy of 326 km in WLTP combined cycle (nearly 460 km in an urban environment), its charging power of 100 kW to go from 20 to 80% in 26 minutes, or even its numerous standard equipment such as LED daytime running lights, Citroën Advanced Comfort suspension, rear parking assistance, automatic emergency braking or traffic sign recognition.

A big success thanks to social leasing

In addition, the French manufacturer quickly announced that the Citroën ë-C3 would indeed be among the vehicles eligible for social leasing. Through this famous measure put in place by the government, the most modest French households were therefore able to order an ë-C3 in LLD (editor’s note: long-term rental) at an unbeatable price: €54 per month!

Inevitably, many customers have set their sights on Citroën’s latest production, at least until the cessation of orders decreed around mid-February 2024. Period when the government chose to put an end to social leasing, faced with excessively strong demand.

It now remains for Citroën to honour this significant order book before September 30, 2024. Why this date? This is the deadline set by the government to manufacturers to deliver vehicles sold through social leasing. Where the problem lies is that many customers claim on social networks and forums of specialized sites such as Automobile Propre that they are still waiting for a delivery date.

Deliveries are delayed, and anxiety is growing

And it must be said that it is rather worrying.. The reason is that if Citroën fails to deliver the ë-C3s under social leasing on time, the €13,000 boost provided for by the scheme (€7,000 bonus and €6,000 additional premium financed by the government) will be severely amputated. Indeed, if the ecological bonus is maintained, This will not be the case for leasing assistance!

It is therefore essential for customers and for Citroën to deliver the ë-C3s from social leasing as a priority, even if it means delay the arrival of models ordered without government assistance. Intriguingly, we found when visiting the brand’s French store that The electric ë-C3 was simply no longer available for purchase.

A way for the manufacturer to stall… And above all to avoid endless delays for the last buyers? Earlier today, we tried to contact one of the manufacturer’s dealerships, as well as its press relations department, to try to find out more about the subject. Of course, we will update this article as soon as we have an answer to provide you.