Germany’s unsatisfactory sales results for Peugeot are being attributed to the brand’s inability to convince customers like successful Austrian, Spanish, Dutch or French manufacturers according to the CEO Carlos Tavares.

Faced with a huge slump in sales figures, Peugeot has to urgently improve its market position in Germany according to its CEO. Tavares spoke how the brand had been unable to convince fastidious German customers with regard to the attractiveness and overall value of its vehicles. According to Tavares, the brand needed to ramp up its image in Germany to compete with Spanish, French, Dutch and Austrian counterparts who had successfully convinced customers about the value propositions of their brands.

The dealership network of PSA has to be ramped up in Germany immediately in response to the appallingly low 3.3% market share for Peugeot and Citroen brands owned by PSA combined. This does not augur well in comparison with Volkswagen’s 21% or Opel’s 7.1%. The CEO stated how the situation had spiraled out of control and the brand had to improve with alacrity in its key German market. Queried about any new investors coming on board, the CEO stated that PSA could well retain independence.

He talked of how talking to investors would be on the back of progress. The company needed to be in good shape for investors to come on board. He also added that negotiations were not ongoing with any particular investor at present. PSA should be back from the red in 2015, its first profit making year since 2011. The Chinese market slowdown, dismal performance in Germany and currency effects have definitely eaten into a large chunk of its profits and performance. Tavares, however, highlighted how the company is finally posting a profit and with returns on sales of 5%, it should be at par with other rivals overall.

Download Quikr App for Android, Windows and iOS devices here.