Stellantis plans to ramp up production of the Citroën C3 following stronger-than-expected demand, Bloomberg reported. To meet the surge, the automaker will expand capacity beyond its primary Slovak plant.
Starting next year, the company will manufacture an extra 40,000 C3 units annually at its Kragujevac, Serbia facility, according to Citroën CEO Xavier Chardon.
The combined annual production of the C3 and its SUV variant, the C3 Aircross, is projected to reach around 300,000 units. Until now, mass manufacturing of these models has primarily taken place at Stellantis’s Trnava facility in Slovakia.
The Trnava facility, which also manufactures the Opel Frontera, is running at full capacity, restricting the number of C3s that can be produced, Chardon noted.
In France, the electric C3 is priced from €14,990 ($17,240) for customers qualifying for a government-supported social leasing program. According to Chardon, the model is profitable for the brand.
Stellantis is also expanding its workforce at other sites, hiring 400 employees at its Rennes plant in western France, where production of the new Citroën C5 Aircross has recently begun.
Despite iconic models like the 2CV, Citroën has seen its market share decline in recent years due to quality issues and delays in launching new vehicles. To address this, the brand rolled out an eight-year warranty program earlier this year.
Stellantis’s latest production adjustments coincide with CEO Antonio Filosa’s broader restructuring of the group’s global operations in response to declining profits and shrinking market share.
The automaker has revealed plans to focus on higher-margin operations in the U.S., pledging significant investment in the market.
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