Citroen turns Santa

Dec 8 2008 Steve Hughes

CITROEN has turned the Chancellor from Scrooge into Santa Claus by giving away early Christmas presents worth up to almost £3,300.

Inspiration for the seasonal generosity came from the Chancellor's VAT reduction from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent.

Citroen decided to pass on the full amount of the reduction on all of its cars from December 1 - and then went one better.

Believing that families in particular are feeling the pinch at a time of expensive outlays during the run-up to Christmas, the company worked out a remarkable deal on its family-oriented best-sellers.

Rather than reducing the VAT in line with the rest, Citroen decided to scrap it altogether on the C4 Picasso, Grand C4 Picasso and the C-Crosser 4x4 models.

However, whilst the car company may be willing to play Santa Claus, the Chancellor still wants his money so Citroen has to pay the VAT itself.

It means dramatic savings for the vehicles involved, with savings of between £1,680 and £3,290.

However, the give-away lasts only until the end of December, at which point the VAT will be put back on for customers.

Citroen spokesman Julian Leyton says: "Many families feel the pinch at this time of year because of the added expense of Christmas, which is even worse for many this year for obvious reasons.

"We thought it would be nice to help them through it so we decided to improve upon the Chancellor's VAT reduction by effectively scrapping it altogether.

"However, because of the size of the reduction we obviously can not run this for a long time so it will only be able to last until the end of December, at which point the VAT will be put back on."

Meanwhile it means some of the biggest price reductions seen yet on any mainstream family models.

In the case of the C4 Picasso the entry-level 1.6-litre petrol model will now cost from just over £12,000 rather than just under £14,000.

As the saving is based on a fixed percentage, it means that the more money is paid, the more is saved.

At the top end of the scale the biggest C4 Picasso saving is £2,750.

The saving is even greater on the larger Grand C4 Picasso, which seats seven people rather than five.

The entry price for the 1.6-litre petrol model is now £12,870 rather than £14,995, representing savings of up to £2,890.

Arguably the biggest surprise is the scrapping of VAT on the C-Crosser, which is in a sector of the market that is already expanding as motorists downsize from larger 4x4s.

As its name suggests, the C-Crosser is a crossover vehicle, which means that it handles like a conventional car whilst offering the go-anywhere capabilities and extra grip of a 4x4.

The new entry price is £17,387 rather than almost £20,000 and in the case of the flagship 40mpg 2.2-litre diesel model the saving is a whopping £3,290.