Citroën’s CEO Linda Jackson talks 2CVs, comfort and future mobility

Although Linda was due to travel down to the 2019 Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard to help Citroën continue its centenary celebrations, Goodwood Road and Racing had the opportunity to sit down with her for a coffee in London on the eve of the big event.

Q: What is your favourite Citroën of all time?

A: Probably a 2CV, not because I had one, but because it was the most sold car by Citroën and it changed the way people look at cars. I had the opportunity to be in a 2CV going round Paris as part of the centenary celebrations and you could see people love that car.

My favourite current car? The C5 Aircross SUV – it’s so comfortable and the one I’m driving currently. It embodies everything I’m trying to say, and it has great design.

Q: Why has Citroën focused on comfort as the main attribute of the brand right now?

A: Comfort has been at the heart of what Citroën can do for 100 years. We went to the conservatoire [where examples of every Citroën every built are kept in Paris] with the design and product teams. The product team said they’d come back and sat in every car and it was comfort that stuck out. Comfort is about the seats, the storage space, the suspension… Not many manufacturers talk about comfort. For people buying my type of cars, it’s comfort that matters.

Q: Are you a car person?

A: Am I a petrolhead and am I in the garage, tinkering around with engines, and do I have 24 different classic cars? No. But do I like driving, and do I like cars and the liberty it gives people? Yes. I started in this industry when I was 18, and I’m still here and I’m 60 and therefore I must like it. 

Q: What other landmark stuff have you got going on to celebrate 100 years?

A: We’ve got a lot of social media events going on throughout the year. There’s a suite of videos about Citroën owners around the world – there’s a Japanese family, seven generations or something, who all drive Citroëns – it’s fascinating! There are special events, for example – quirky stuff. We have a couple of big events – in June we took over a road in Paris and put 100 iconic models on it.

Q: Should women be marketed to differently from men when selling cars to customers?

A: No, I don’t think so. Women are looking for different things in cars but we shouldn’t change our tone – we should explain to them what’s different about it. It’s not about trying to find a different tone, but we do need to widen the subject, to how [a car] can be beneficial to their lives. The [C5 Aircross] is an SUV on the outside and an MPV on the inside – we like that modularity, so I’d talk about that to my consumers. 

“Inspired by you” has been the new Citroën logo since 2017. It’s for real people – the C4 Cactus ad has a father taking his kids to school.

You’ve got to be careful: do we design cars for women? No. Do I look at cars differently from my male colleagues? I test cars on tracks, and when I get into a car, I’m looking at: what is the storage space? Where do I put my handbag? These are things you need to understand. That’s not patronising – it’s the way you explain it. It’s trying to find the right messages.

Q: Do you think the industry needs to veer towards positive discrimination in getting women into engineering, design, and management roles in the industry? 

A: I don’t agree with quotas – if I got this job that I’m currently in because I’m a woman, then that denigrates my ability. I should get the role because of my ability to do the job. Positive discrimination always worries me slightly. That doesn’t mean I don’t think there should be more women, and we should encourage it, but not by chasing statistics. We’ve got to work out why there aren’t more women in the industry.

It’s moving and changing – it’s completely different to how it was 25 years ago. I can remember being in rooms with 300 executives and there being three women – two from HR and myself. But it’s changing. It would be great to have more women in this industry because 50 per cent of our customers are women and, also, the industry is changing so much now. It’s about how you create a brand experience, so it’s also about digitalisation, social media – all of that is relevant and there are very capable women who can do that as well as men.

The designer of the interior of Citroëns is a woman. But why did she get the job? Because she was the best person. I’m invited to many things to encourage women and be a mentor… I went to one just recently and they said to me it’s great you’re here. I said it’s great, but it’s actually quite sad that we have to have this. In 10 years time I hope there won’t be these events.

Q: Which other brands to you admire?

A: There are so many these days. Go back 10 years ago and you’d say they’re not so good on quality, but nowadays they’ve all got the same quality. It’s about a sense of taste – what do you like the most? It’s impossible for me to choose because all have something that’s interesting, and many have problems, because this industry is changing so rapidly.

Q: Does it feel to you like we’re in the middle of a step change in the industry? The product used to be about powertrains, now it’s about connectivity and sustainability.

A: I honestly believe we’re in a step change – not just in the product but in the way we treat our vehicles. We’re moving from something that’s so traditional – you buy your vehicle, you take it to the dealership, you have it mended or you buy another one. Now we have a whole range of people who don’t necessarily want to own a car, they want access to a car, so you’ve got the implications of car sharing, and more and more of us want to lease a car. There’s a statistic by the United Nations that says by 2050, 68 per cent of us are going to be living in cities, which means what do you do about urban mobility? That’s one of the reasons we did our Ami One concept.

The world is changing; and it’s going to change more in the next 20-30 years than it has in the past 50 because it’s not just the object that is changing, but the way we interact with it. I can imagine in 2040 we don’t own cars but we are leasing cars or we have a subscription so we have access to an electric car one time, something else another time…

Q: The 'Frenchness" of Citroën is part of its appeal isn't it?

A: Citroën is considered the most French of all French brands. We were born in Paris, and that's a great thing.

Photography courtesy of Citroën.