Wednesday 5th March 2014

Citroen: Geneva 2014

Not immediately PH-worthy but the C4 Cactus seems to herald a return to Citroen's bonkers best

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For the French manufacturers all eyes were on the Renault stand. But then, when a brand launches a £10,000 rear-engined, rear-wheel drive play thing, we tend to take notice.

But that's not to say there wasn't anything of interest over on the Citroen stand.

Naturally, the C4 Cactus drew most of the attention. It's a concept car made good, complete with its comically named AirBumps, designed to protect your prized Citroen from car park dings and low-speed collisions. And even though the C4 Cactus is a new car heralding the arrival of a new budget-led sub-brand, it still comes packed with a 7-inch infotainment screen and a delightfully eccentric interior that will appeal to the dyed-in-the-wool Citroen fans amongst us.

There was much talk on the Geneva show floor over the newly announced Aygo-108-C1 holy trinity. Choosing the best flavour will largely come down to personal opinion, but credit to the three respective brands that each one has its own unique identity.

Citroen also showcased a C1 Swiss & Me, complete with SUV-style wheel arch extensions, bigger wheels and a smattering of Swiss-inspired decals. Although it's merely a concept, designed to show off the range of personalisation options available on the C1, it was enough to give the C1 the edge over the Toyota and Peugeot. Well, that's the view of this particular dyed-in-the-wall Citroen fan.

Finally, as is becoming the norm at motor shows this year, Citroen rolled out its C-Elysee WTCC car. It's like the uncle who comes to visit at Christmas. Although we suspect the Citroen is better at telling jokes.

[dukebox9reg]

I do like Citroens newest direction. One reason why I just parted with a large sum of money for a new C4 Picasso. Not a huge fan on the toy car looks of the new C1 but looking forward to the new replacements for the rest of the range.

[Howrare]

Great shots of the interior...........If it deserves commenting on, it might be nice to see it?

[FRibiza]

Dyed in the wall? Twice? Not exactly a major gaff, MajorGav, but try dyed-in-the-wool next time

[MajorGav]

FRibiza said:

Dyed in the wall? Twice? Not exactly a major gaff, MajorGav, but try dyed-in-the-wool next time

Drat, damn and bother. You're absolutely right, of course. Some post-Geneva sleep is definitely required. Brain hitting that wall. Cheers.

[LancerG]

Love the Citroen (getting its guts back) effect

The Cactus looks great and has very modern simple interior
The C1 looks the best of the 3 - Take a look at the C1 soft-top, looks really fun for that segment.

[Redlake27]

10 years ago (Saxo, Xsara, 1st gen C5) it really looked like Citroen had lost their mojo and flair with a range of uglier Peugeots.

Today, DS3 and DS5 are very individual and I like the DS approach more than the retro approach of Mini, but even the more mainstream C4 Picasso and C5 Saloon/Estate are amongst the most handsome of their type.

Although the C5 Estate has been around for a while,I saw one in a traffic jam last week and thought it was a much more cohesive design than an A4 Avant, Passat Estate or other similar rivals.

The new Picasso is the first MPV I'd consider on looks alone (since the Multipla Mk1, but then I like quirky)..... I'm interested to see where they price the Cactus v Picasso.