Peugeot Citroen Australia ups warranty to five years

PEUGEOT Citroen Australia (PCA) has made its next move under new importer Inchcape, announcing this week that all Peugeot and Citroen models – excluding light-commercial vehicles – now come standard with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty.

Paired with five years of complimentary roadside assistance, the guarantee replaces the old three-year/100,000km agreement that still pertains to the exempt LCVs.

The new warranty commences immediately and applies retrospectively to all MY18 vehicles already sold while also being completely transferable between owners during the dictated period.

Parent company Groupe PSA underwrites the first three years of the new warranty that comes into effect from the date of first registration, while the last two years are covered by PCA.

While this new warranty matches that of Hyundai and Honda, it falls short of Kia's industry-leading range-wide seven-year/unlimited-kilometre term.

According to PCA managing director Anouk Poelmann, this move was made to instil confidence in Australian new-vehicle buyers interested in the two French brands.

“When Peugeot and Citroen arrived in Australia – almost 80 and 100 years ago respectively – reliability and durability was the key to the brand’s early success, and today that focus has not changed,” she said.

“From design to engineering and manufacture, efforts at all levels of the business have focused on quality, durability and reliability, and this new five-year warranty underscores our confidence in the new generation of Peugeot and Citroen product.

“Peugeot and Citroen are some of the oldest and most storied marques in Australia, and we at PCA and Groupe PSA are determined to make the next chapter one full of confidence and growth.”

Previously, a long-standing promotional six-year warranty was available on most Citroen models from 2014 until PCA and Inchcape decided to finally end it in November last year.

Similarly, Peugeot once offered its own marketing activation, with a seven-year warranty included with the Australian Open-themed Avantage Editions range sold last month.

Since Inchape took over local distribution of the Peugeot and Citroen brands from Sime Darby Motors in June 2017, it has attempted to reinvigorate the struggling French stalwarts.

During Inchcape's reign and the establishment of PCA, excess stock has been run out, pricing has been adjusted, the updated small 2008 SUV and 308 hatchback have launched, the next-generation 3008 mid-size and 5008 large SUVs have lobbed, and autonomous emergency braking has been rolled out as standard across nearly every Peugeot model.

These milestones, and this new warranty, are key to Peugeot and Citroen's sales resurgence in the Australian market.

Peugeot sales grew steadily last year, with 3392 units sold to the end of 2017, representing an 8.4 per cent increase over the 3129 deliveries mustered in 2016.

Conversely, Citroen sales took a significant hit last year, with 735 vehicles finding homes throughout the 12-month period, equating to a 23.8 per cent decrease over the 2016 tally of 965 cars.