Camperdude Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 After returning form a two week tour of France, I noticed that quite a lot of French registered motorhome converters use the Citroen Relay rather than the Peugeot Boxer/Fiat Ducato. Apart form a few small scale UK converters, almost all the major UK manufacturers use either the Peugeot Boxer or Fiat Ducato as their preferred base vehicle. It seems strange that the Citroen is ignored when it's several thousand pounds cheaper than the Peugeot/Fiat equivalent. A quick check on the relavent websites shows the basic Citreon Relay is over £3000 cheaper than the equivalent Peugeot/Fiat! My guess is the smaller UK converters are more cost-conscious and competitive so use the cheapest base vehicle i.e the Citroen, whereas the major converters play on the UK's obsession with what badge is on the bonnet and go for maximum cost and therefore profit. I bought one of the last Mark 2 Citroen Relays through Leisuredrive figuring that as the van was at the end of it's production life it wouldn't suffer any teething troubles. The total cost of the van and Leisuredrive conversion was I think a bargain at £20k. After reading the horror stories about the Mark 3 versons distroying clutches/gearboxes I'm really glad I did! I would've thought in these cost-conscious times, converters would look for the best value for money rather than worrying about the percieved superiority of Peugeot/Fiat over Citroen. Regards John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 I shouldnt presume that the deal you can find is the same as that which Fiat offer major converters. I believe its nothing to do with snobbery and all to do with economics. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Camperdude - 2009-08-01 2:46 PM After returning form a two week tour of France, I noticed that quite a lot of French registered motorhome converters use the Citroen Relay rather than the Peugeot Boxer/Fiat Ducato. Apart form a few small scale UK converters, almost all the major UK manufacturers use either the Peugeot Boxer or Fiat Ducato as their preferred base vehicle. It seems strange that the Citroen is ignored when it's several thousand pounds cheaper than the Peugeot/Fiat equivalent. A quick check on the relavent websites shows the basic Citreon Relay is over £3000 cheaper than the equivalent Peugeot/Fiat! My guess is the smaller UK converters are more cost-conscious and competitive so use the cheapest base vehicle i.e the Citroen, whereas the major converters play on the UK's obsession with what badge is on the bonnet and go for maximum cost and therefore profit. I bought one of the last Mark 2 Citroen Relays through Leisuredrive figuring that as the van was at the end of it's production life it wouldn't suffer any teething troubles. The total cost of the van and Leisuredrive conversion was I think a bargain at £20k. After reading the horror stories about the Mark 3 versons distroying clutches/gearboxes I'm really glad I did! I would've thought in these cost-conscious times, converters would look for the best value for money rather than worrying about the percieved superiority of Peugeot/Fiat over Citroen. Regards John I should think that the wide use of Citroen bases in France is more to do with their perceived 'nationalistic' tendencies when buying motor vehicles. ( Have you noticed how many Renaults were on the road). I have never come across anyone who regards Peugeot / Fiat as superior to Citroen, but that may be the case. As far as U.K converters are concerned I assume their choices would be based on what kind of deals they can obtain from the manufacturers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frankkia Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 If we had the same nationalistic tendancies as France and Germany we would still have a car industry! You only have to drive around Germany or France and soon notice that the percentage of home grown vehicles to Japanese / Korean is very much higher than the UK. As far as converters are concerned it is down to economics. The price lists of the base vehicle manufacturers for public consumption bear no resemblance to the offers they give to bulk purchasers (either fleet or converter). One Uk m/home builder at one time built on either Fiat or Peugeot depending on the customers preference but after doing a deal with Peugeot which precluded them from buying any Fiats they only produced on Peugeot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 As far as I'm aware, the only 'mainstream' French motorhome manufacturers who currently use Citroen-badged chassis are Rapido and Fleurette (linked commercially to Rapido). In both cases Citroen-badged chassis are not used exclusively and other models in the manufacturers' ranges employ Fiat-badged chassis. Although it's possible to purchase Peugeot Boxers in France, the majority of 'SEVEL' light commercial vehicles are either Citroen Jumpers (Relays) or Fiat Ducatos. The converse is true in the UK. Presumably it's just due to how Citroen/Peugeot choose to market their brands nationally. Rapido used to build SEVEL-based motorhomes exclusively on Fiat-badged chassis, but began to offer Citroen-badged vehicles in France a couple of years ago. At that time Fiat had gained a reputation amongst motorcaravanners for poor customer after-care and I remember one French motorhome magazine suggesting that, by buying a 'Jumper' Rapido, you might get better after-sales service via the Citroen dealership network. Oddly, neither Rapido nor Fleurette motorhomes destined for the UK market wear a Citroen (or Peugeot) badge - all of them are on Fiat chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.