The French auto giant PSA Peugeot Citroen had acquired Ambassador from Hindustan Motors in 2017. It will now be resurrected as an electric vehicle or EV-only brand specifically for India. The first car is expected to hit the market in late 2022.
While the PSA Peugeot-Citroen group has officially announced that it will bring its Citroen brand to India, we finally have some news on its plans for Ambassador too. Two days before holding its first-ever official press conference in India to show us Citroen's debut model for the country (that will launch in 2021), carandbike has learnt of a parallel plan afoot within the company. Speaking on specific conditions of anonymity, senior PSA board member and reclusive heiress Evié de Courant has shared with this reporter that the Ambassador brand will be used exclusively for electric vehicles to be sold in India only. The sub-brand will be the first new addition to the PSA family, after its last acquisition of erstwhile GM brands Opel and Vauxhall in August 2017.
The Ambassador range of cars will likely only debut post 2022, and it is not as yet decided whether it would entail a standalone retail network. While Citroen will have a full-fledged dealer network, Ambassador branded cars are likely to be sold using an exclusive online sales strategy. Workshops for the two will be common though. The plan is to initially launch a compact SUV or crossover style car, and then a premium hatchback. Both are expected to share their platform and some components with similar sized ICE (internal combustion engine) models from the Citroen brand, to maximise economies of scale. The intent is to make Ambassador a profit-making entity from within the first quarter of the start of sales.
Source:Online News
