Forget Marmite airbumps.. Citroen has new star in town
It was, I suppose, a prickly ly question. Had Citroen n physically stopped making g the Cactus?
That’s the French company’s s quirky and funky crossover car with h the lounge-like interior, mad colour r palette and the famously Marmite airbumps on the outside.
Boss Vincent Cobee did not hesitate. “We are still making it but just until the end of the summer when the production line will build the new C4.”
And there we had it – the end of an n era for a distinctive car that many y of us had grown to love.
In its place was the car that was being unveiled to us – 2600 journalists from across the world online – a new C4 with petrol and diesel powertrains and an all- electric version.
It is quite an evolution from the feisty teenager that was the Cactus to the smooth and sophisticated d model unveiled to us from Paris.
Created by Citroen’s new design n guru Pierre Leclerq, it is elegant and d strong with the powerful stance of f an SUV. It has the SUV ride height, but t the coupe-like rear with its unique e taillights are part of Citroen’s intent t to reinvent the hatchback. This gives it a sense of mmotion sweeping from the long bonnet aat the front to the rear with its bold spoiler. The lines are clean cle but sculpted.
L Leclerq said: “I wanted it to hav have strong proportions. It is rais raised for a greater stance and the simple surfaces give it more mus muscle in light and shade.” In Inside, a 10in screen holds the key to the car’s systems and func functions, including 20 driving aids, but the most striking featu feature is the loss of the bench bench-type seat. Instead, driver and ppassenger are cocooned inside the C4 surrounded by lots of bblacblack gloss and chrome.
At A ththe same time, this model remainsains rema true to Citroen’s ethos of creating creat incredibly comfortable cars with its hydraulic cushion and new-ngeneration seats.
A panoramicp roof creates light and spaciousness and the boot is a wwelcoming 380-litre, which almost alm triples when you put the seats sea down flat.
In a world first, there is a special supsupport in the front for the paspassenger on which to balance his or her iPhone or tablet.
The new C4 will be available with five petrol enginesengi and two diesel engines to complemcomplement the all- electric 50kWh battery-powered e-C4 model, with 136PS and a range of nearly 220 miles. Careful attention has been given to deadening road noise in the electric version because, of course, when you are running silently everything can be heard.
The e-version has a top speed of 93mph and will make it to 62mph in 9.7 seconds.
The more traditional engines are the award-winning PureTech petrol and Blue HDi diesel internal from the PSA parent group, where engineers have been remarkably successful in whittling down emissions and increasing fuel efficiency.
But Cobee expects at least 10 per cent of new C4 sales to be all-electric when orders open in September, rising perhaps to 20 per cent or more in the next 10 years.
It has been a challenging year for motor manufacturers. The complications of the Covid-19 crisis have almost created a clean slate from which to start off again. The C4 is one of the first new cars out of the blocks since lockdown was gradually eased and is a sign of things to come in the Citroen stable – a world away from the Cactus. So we could well be in for a new golden era of motor cars.
The traditional and electric models will all come with Citroen’s regular three-year and 60,000-mile warranty.
They will be on forecourts by the end of the year and up for order in September, likely to be priced between £20,000 and £ 30,000 for the petrol and diesel and between £30,000 and £35,000 for the EV.