Citroën boss Vincent Cobée has left the firm to “pursue personal projects” just over three years since he was appointed.
Thierry Koskas, sales and marketing chief of Citroën parent company Stellantis, has been appointed as head of the French brand as it prepares to launch a range of accessible EVs taking their lead from the recently revealed Oli concept - which Cobée allowed Autocar to drive exclusively earlier this month.
Citroen Oli concept car first drive
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said: “I have full confidence in Thierry Koskas to carry out these strategic and valuable missions for our company so that Stellantis can lead the way the market moves while developing the iconic Citroën brand.
“Thierry’s dual responsibility is part of a logic of cross-functionality, as is already the case for other EVPs [executive vice-presidents] within the Stellantis leadership team.
“I would like to thank Vincent Cobée for having set the positioning of Citroën within the Stellantis brand portfolio and wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
Opinion: Cobée’s exit is a blow for Citroën, motorists and journalists
Cobée became CEO of Citroën in January 2020 and oversaw its repositioning as an accessibility-focused brand, with launches including the Citroën C3 You – a variant of the supermini priced from £13,995 – targeted at the emptying city-car market.
His prevailing mission was to boost the accessibility and sustainability of EVs, beginning with the launch of the £7695 Citroën Ami quadricycle.
Cobée described the philosophy behind the Ami to Autocar in July 2022: "We started with a completely clean sheet and had three purposes: that freedom of mobility matters; that cities are cluttered and the Ami can help; and that clean mobility shouldn’t cost £70,000."
He added: "The BMW iX weighs 2.5 tonnes and the Tesla Model X costs £100,000. Both are great cars, but for whom? Citroën is a £6000-to-£60,000 car company, and its job is to engage with its customer base to rationalise the purchase of battery EVs.”
A day in Paris with a Citroen Ami and CEO Vincent Cobée
More recently, when walking Autocar around the new Citroën ë-C4 X, Cobée outlined his plans to make EVs smaller, lighter and more fun.
His replacement Koskas joined the PSA Group – a precursor to Stellantis – in 2019, having worked in sales and marketing for the Renault Group since 1997. Between 2009 and 2013, he ran Renault's EV programme, during which time the Renault Fluence ZE, Renault Twizy and Renault Zoe were launched.
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