Citroen exploring 15-year car leases with recycled parts

Citroёn is considering offering 15-year car leases, utilising remanufacturing and recycled parts to keep cars on the road for as long as possible. 

Speaking at the launch of the Citroёn Oli concept, which signalled the brand’s push for cheaper, more sustainable electric cars, branding executive Laurent Barria said: “What is really important is that we will have to make cars live longer.

“We're working today on a new way of leasing cars, not for three or four years but 15. I’d like to launch this kind of product next year.”

Barria said the brand currently looks at a maximum of “eight or nine years” of residual value, implying that this isn't the best practice for the environment. “We have to change that paradigm and say that maybe we will have people interested in having mobility in good shape or good condition, even after 12 years,” he followed.

Therefore the goal is “a global life cycle of 15 years or 250,000km [155,000 miles]”, with the car “in perfect condition, with the same maintenance contract [after 10 years] as it [had in] the first year”.

All cars under these contracts will be maintained and solely using recycled parts.

According to Barria, “the most complicated part [is] at the end: [giving] those customers from the ninth to the 15th years the same level of warranty [as those in newer cars]”. 

Repairing older cars with recycled parts poses problems as supply dwindles over time, said Barria: “If you get an electric window which is failing, what do I do? I say to the customer ‘it's an old car, we can't [fix] that’."

At this point, Citroёn will undertake its “responsibility to recycle”, “[closing] the loop down at the end”.

In January, Toyota announced a similar scheme to refurbish cars up to three times as part of its new fleet mobility service, Kinto.

Under Kinto, the Japanese manufacturer aims to extend its contact time with customers “at least to 10 years,” Toyota GB boss Agustín Martín told Autocar.

Martín hinted that the focus will be on avoiding waste and reducing the environmental impact of producing new cars, aligning with Citroёn’s plans.

French rival Renault began refurbishing cars recently at its facility in Flins, France, sourcing them from dealers within a 200km (124 mile)-radius and readying them for resale.

The company targets an eventual turnaround of 45,000 cars per year, with plans to build a mirror facility to double that figure if successful.