Citroen, like model partners Peugeot and Toyota, shifts a fair few C1s in the UK.
That tally was boosted recently, by a substantial 1320, thanks to a deal with AccuRead. The meter reading company’s taking these cars on, for 18 months, to cover 13,000 miles a year reading, well, meters.
They’re all 1.0 five-door Rhythm 1.0-litres. In black, silver, or one of two greys. And may be extended by another six months if the demand is there.
All fine and dandy.
However, Citroen has also accurately revealed a potential blow to its C1 RVs in a few years’ time.
See, more than 10 per cent of annual sales coming from one order always leaves things slightly out of your control. The used market now knows that 1.0 five-door Rhythm C1s will be more plentiful if they wait – so could mark current cars down a little in knowledge of this.
They’ll know that silver, black or grey cars could have faced a little more abuse, so may want to avoid them. They’ll also know they could face greater refurbishment costs if they buy them ‘as seen’, so will try to avoid this on a car that, until now, has been predominantly retail.
Further to that, they’ll know that this could also mark a shift in Citroen’s thinking for the C1. All companies want to go green nowadays. Is this deal setting out the brand’s stall for drawing in fleets, who want large numbers of eco cars, at a low price?
So many ponderables. Until now, the C1’s RVs have been excellent. It’ll be worth watching if they vary from the similarly high figures of its 107 and Toyota Aygo siblings over the coming months…
