Grand new deal for Citroen people-mover

CITROEN Australia has announced additional spec for its slow-selling seven-seat Grand C4 Picasso, which will include key safety items at no extra cost.

The company will include a tech pack, comprising adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and active seatbelts, as well as collision avoidance alert, electro-chromatic rearview mirror, Xenon headlamps with smart beam and an electric tailgate, at no extra charge.

Citroen Australia says the package is worth $4000, but will be included on the $44,990 (plus ORCs) Grand C4 Picasso for free until the end of 2015.

“The addition of the tech pack to the Grand C4 Picasso will provide motorists looking for safety and convenience a compelling offer ahead of the holiday motoring season,” said Citroen Australia’s national sales manager Shaun Mackle.

The spec offer comes on top of a revision to the car in August, where overhead air-conditioning was added to the third row of seats, along with a separate flow control module for the airvents and reading lamps in the rear, without any additional cost.

Citroen launched the Grand C4 Picasso locally in February 2014 in a single specification and with one powertrain – the Exclusive, which is fitted with a 2.0-litre four-cylinder Euro 6 BlueHDi diesel unit producing 110kW and 370Nm.

At the time it was priced from $43,990, but this has since been bumped up by $1000.

Standard fare in the Grand C4 Picasso includes a 7.0-inch multi-function infotainment screen with 8GB hard-drive, a 12-inch panoramic high-definition screen, dual-zone air-conditioning, keyless entry and start, front and rear parking sensors, panoramic sunroof with electric sun-blind and 17-inch alloy wheels with a tyre pressure monitor.

Sales for the Grand C4 Picasso, which is built on the same EMP2 platform as the Peugeot 308, have been slow this year, with the seven-seater finding just 220 homes to this point in 2015, placing it near the bottom of the people-mover class.

The category is led by Kia's Carnival, which has recorded 2881 sales and owns 31 per cent of the sector to the end of October, followed by Honda's Odyssey on 2329 sales and a 25 per cent share.