Citroen believes the economic downturn means drivers will pick smaller, cheaper cars such as its new supermini-MPV the C3 Picasso.

This is the view of Ian Hughes, the fleet sales director, who says that despite the current state of the market, there is still huge potential with corporate customers.

“I passionately believe that the economic downturn that we are currently experiencing gives Citroen an opportunity to provide consumers with cars that will meet their needs,” he said.

“Inevitably the growth of the sales market is seeing an evolution towards smaller cars with smaller engines. This in turn is increasing the percentage of fleet sales.”

Although prices have not been confirmed as the car doesn’t go on sale in the UK until the middle of 2009, Hughes is already hopeful about the residual values of the new MPV. “We always strive to have the highest RVs in any given sector when we launch a new car,” he said.

“We expect it to go to the top; the last five cars we have launched have done so and we have worked hard over the past three years to achieve this record.”

Aiming for around 30% of all C3 Picasso sales to be accounted for by business users, Hughes is targeting drivers of Nissan‘s Note and the Vauxhall Meriva to make the switch to the French manufacturer.

The C3 Picasso will be launched with two petrol engine options as well as two diesel engines – the 90PS and 110PS HDI units – that have CO2 emission figures of 125 and 130g/km respectively. Further variations, including a stop-start version, will be introduced into the range after launch.