Partners scoops £40m Citroën

French carmaker PSA has moved its £40m Citroën UK account out of Havas-owned Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper into sister agency Partners BDDH.

The win for Partners follows the recent end to its five-year relationship with Mercedes-Benz, after Mercedes shifted its £10m creative account into start-up agency Campbell Doyle Dye.

Euro RSCG still retains PSA’s Peugeot business and the agency will continue to handle the Citroën business in other regions.

In recent years, Citroën has been keen to develop independent agency relationships. Last year, PSA’s media buying was split between Carat and its sister agency BBJ. But the media account moved again when it emerged that Carat had been appointed to handle rival Renault in Europe. OMD UK now handles media for both brands.

Euro RSCG in Paris has already been briefed to create a TV and press campaign for Citroën’s new C5 sedan, which launches in the UK next month. Partners is expected to concentrate on UK-focused price promotion campaigns for the next few months.

The agency’s relationship with Citroën started in 1992, when it merged with three other agencies – Colmans, Eurocom and Madell Wilmot Pringle, a short-lived start-up which had initially won the Citroën business in 1990.

Last year, Citroën sales increased by more than 50 per cent year on year. Citroën UK managing director Alain Favey says: “We broke all records in 2001 and this reorganisation will help us achieve greater success in 2002.”