Automotive News Europe - Talk From The Top Supplement - December 2019 - 10

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

TALK FROM THE TOP

Clearing the air
Citroen chief explains PSA's CO2-slashing strategy and bold expansion plan

ast year, Linda Jackson took on the
leadership of PSA Group's low-emissions vehicle business unit. That means
in addition to her duties as CEO of the
Citroen brand she is tasked with making sure the company is compliant with
stricter emissions regulations. Jackson
explained how electrification will help
the group meet those targets in an interview with Automotive News Europe Associate Publisher and Editor Luca Ciferri
and Correspondent Peter Sigal.
Will electric vehicles always be more
expensive than internal combustion
models because of the battery cost?
You can't simply look at the cost of the battery or the cost of the car. For the customer,
the total cost of ownership (TCO) is the real
measurement. You need to take into account that electricity is cheaper than fuel.
If you look into the future, there will come
a time when the TCO for an electric car is
equal to or even better than a gasoline or
diesel model. Even now, we are trying to
make sure those costs are about the same
because, otherwise, what's the advantage
for the customer in buying electric?
What is PSA's strategy for meeting its
2020-21 EU emissions target?
It's not just about the fact that we want
to avoid paying penalties. It's also ethical:
We have a corporate responsibility as a
global company to meet those targets.
Our strategy is comprehensive, and we
are working on all fronts. First, we have
set ourselves a target of around 7 percent
of our sales being LEV [low-emissions vehicles, meaning full-electric vehicles and
plug-in hybrids] by 2020. It's also the
mix of gasoline and diesel sales. And it's
technological as well. We have worked to
make our platforms lighter, which also
helps to save CO2, and we are trying to
make our gasoline engines more efficient.

Meet the boss
❚ NAME: Linda Jackson
❚ TITLE: Citroen brand CEO;

head of PSA Group's lowemissions vehicle business unit

❚ AGE: 61
❚ MAIN CHALLENGE:

Helping PSA meet its emissions
targets and increasing Citroen's
sales outside of Europe.

We have seen an increase in EV and
plug-in hybrid sales, but that could
change overnight because of incentives.

Diesel sales are declining less than
many people expected. Given that, do
you still need to sell 7 percent low- age points by the end of next year? No- in EV and plug-in hybrid sales, but that
emissions vehicles?
body knows, but having that 7 percent could change overnight because of inThe percentage of diesel new passenger target lets us manage that uncertainty.
centives. The customer is very much led
cars in the EU is about 30 percent and How much of that 7 percent will be by incentives. We will stick to our overall
has been stable for the past six months. EVs versus plug-in hybrids?
target of 7 percent, and we will manage
Is that going to move down 10 percent- At the moment we have seen an increase that as the market moves.

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Automotive News Europe - Talk From The Top Supplement - December 2019

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