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Auto Express
5 hours ago
- Automotive
- Auto Express
A new Citroen 2CV? Some say oui, others say non
The Citroen 2CV is an icon that has captured the attention of car enthusiasts ever since the original model launched back in the 1940s. After production ended in 1990, the 2CV name lay dormant and became a distant memory… until now. Rumours have recently been swirling that the French brand could be preparing to revive the 2CV name, following the success of the new Renault 5. In a recent exclusive interview, Former Citroen CEO Thierry Koskas and Head of Design Pierre Leclercq have revealed that this might actually be on the cards. Advertisement - Article continues below At Auto Express, the question has been raised: would reviving the 2CV name be a good thing, or is it better left in the past? Editor Paul Barker and deputy editor Richard Ingram have differing views on the matter - and below, they showcase both sides of the argument. But what do you think? Let us know in the comments… By Richard Ingram, deputy editor Contrary to what I might suggest over the next five paragraphs, I'm not actually that into retro remakes. Yet being able to capture the magic of the original, blending the rooted DNA of the brand in a contemporary – and most importantly, competitive – way, is a surefire recipe for success. Take the modern MINI as an example. There's no mistaking it for anything else, yet it doesn't sacrifice what made the dinky fifties small car so great: namely that super-sharp go-kart driving experience. How about the latest Land Rover Defender? Boxy but brilliant; nothing compares if you really want to venture as far as possible off the beaten track. Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below I think Citroen could (and should) do something similar with the reinvented 2CV. Imagine it: a bubbly, snail-inspired family car with a roomy interior, hiding a modern platform and drivetrain, plus that typical Citroen-soft ride quality. You could even put some Airbumps on the side for ultimate car-park prang protection. Advertisement - Article continues below Citroen (and parent company Stellantis) is on a roll right now: the fantastic e-C3 is our reigning Car of the Year, and the sharply-styled C5 Aircross is a concept car in all but name. Don't forget the polarising Ami quadricycle – proof that Citroen can do something different and get away with it. So here's hoping that those fanciful French designers, engineers and execs can find a way to glance back while also looking forward. Just one request: Can I be the first to carry that carton of eggs across a ploughed field? Sometimes these Auto Express features write themselves! By Paul Barker, editor It's really easy to get wrapped up in enthusiastic nostalgia when it comes to cars. Wouldn't it be great to resurrect car X/Y/Z? Largely, no it wouldn't! Whisper it, but the Citroen 2CV really wasn't very good when it was new. Characterful, yes, and great if you want to carry eggs across a rutted French field without them breaking, but otherwise it's best consigned to the history books. Citroen has had success over the years by looking forward rather than back, and trying to pioneer – from the DS and the SM, to the Picasso and C4 Cactus – cars that brought something new to the table. I'm sure a new 2CV would make people smile, but will they put their money where their grin is, and make it commercially successful? The car industry is littered with initially well received retro reinventions that didn't succeed. The Chrysler PT Cruiser is a fine example of a car that exploded into life, but once that initial hysteria had dried up, sales ground to a halt quicker than a 2CV on a steep incline. Likewise, the rebooted Volkswagen Beetle wouldn't exactly be categorised as a success. Hopefully Renault's new 5 will buck the trend, and Citroen execs must be looking enviously over the fence at their French rival, but time will tell how easy it is to keep the momentum over the next three or four years on what is such a style statement of a car. Maybe Citroen can capture the essence of what made the 2CV so popular: that humble low-cost simplicity? But I think it would be better off creating a new 21st-century icon that doesn't rely on misty-eyed memories of the distant past. Let us know your thoughts on the Citroen 2CV's potential return in the comments section below... View C3 View C3 View C3 Find a car with the experts New Kia Sportage breaks cover and it's sleeker than ever New Kia Sportage breaks cover and it's sleeker than ever Full specification and details have been announced for the UK version of Kia's big-selling mid-size SUV Best mid-size SUVs to buy 2025 - our expert pick of the top options Best mid-size SUVs to buy 2025 - our expert pick of the top options Mid-size SUVs are hugely popular in the UK, and these are the very best of the current crop Best cars & vans 4 Jun 2025 Citroen is plotting a new 2CV – but the risks are huge Citroen is plotting a new 2CV – but the risks are huge We talk to Citroen bosses on plans to reboot its icon – and do they go retro or futuristic?
Auto Express
a day ago
- Automotive
- Auto Express
Citroen is plotting a new 2CV – but the risks are huge
Citroen is agonising over whether to bring back the 2CV, the 1940s masterpiece of simplicity that put Europe back on the road after World War II. The recreation of the Renault 5 supermini and Renault 4 hatchback (reinterpreted as an SUV) has got French brand's executives questioning whether to delve into their brand's back catalogue and revive the iconic Citroen 2CV. It's one of the biggest decisions facing new CEO Xavier Chardon – and Auto Express has exclusively spoken to his predecessor Thierry Koskas and head of design Pierre Leclercq to get their views. Reviving the Citroen 2CV – a cheap four-seat car with a long canvas roof, a tiny engine to save fuel and comfortable suspension so it could carry a basket of eggs across a ploughed field – is the subject of intense debate inside Citroen's Paris HQ. And we've waded into the debate by having our illustrator dream up two new takes on the 2CV, one retro, one modern. Citroen's discussions centre on whether that concept of 'four wheels and an umbrella' – set out in the late 1930s – is still highly relevant to car buyers pampered by digital touchscreens, aspiring to premium, assailed by electrification and drowning in choice? And how transferable is the original design to a car that would come out 90 years after its progenitor? Advertisement - Article continues below Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below 'We have a very, very strong heritage, one of the richest in the car industry,' then-Citroen boss Koskas told us. 'We have the 2CV, the Traction Avant, the DS: amazing cars known all over the world. I absolutely agree that one of the big strengths of European brands is their heritage. 'On the product side, we are not taking it as a general direction to do retro design. But I do not exclude that maybe we study and [have] some exploration, we are open to look at that. But at Citroen you will not see all the future cars reminding you of previous models.' Steeped in his brand's history, the Citroen leader for more than two years is well aware of the 2CV's philosophy, arguing 'something super simple that takes you from A to B, with the necessary room – these ideas can feed us in a great way, because it's very much the DNA of the brand.' But will Citroen go beyond philosophy and recreate the 2CV's look? 'You will have people that value a design that is close to a car they used to love in the past. This is the debate,' explains Koskas. 'But there have been successes and failures in [automotive] revivals. Some fail because [companies] don't position the car properly, they seem retro but aren't really, or customers don't really like the car or recognise their love story. So if we were to do it, we would have to be very, very careful and cautious about how we did it.' Advertisement - Article continues below Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below The challenge of bringing back the Citroen 2CV poses more problems than Renault faced with the 5. Its chic supermini concept, launched in 1972 and lasting until 1996, remains deeply relevant and its form is still recognisably contemporary – unlike the 2CV's. Up front, those articulated fenders are distinctively pre-World War II, grafted onto a relatively thin, long nose that followed the form of the inline flat-twin engine. It's a form that makes no sense today – especially if the new Citroen 2CV is electric with no engine to package – and would have to meet crash regulations and place round headlamps at the car's extremities. And slavishly following that horseshoe cockpit's silhouette could mean some difficult trade-offs between occupant and boot space: one reason why VW's 1990s Beetle failed was compromised practicality, particularly rear headroom. Big alloy wheels are critical to muscular modern car design so could Citroen return to the 2CV's faired-in rear wheels? We asked the brand's design director Pierre Leclercq, who pointed out historic cars' narrow tracks and inboard wheels ('great car but look at an E-type's!' he urged) are a far cry from contemporary precisely stuffed arches. 'We have them as flush as possible in today's cars and that's much better. It's super important because this gives a stance on the road,' Leclercq told us. 'Let's say we have to do CX or a GS again, we'd have to make a piece of plastic [over the rear wheel] with an offset of maybe 50mm to do [it].' Advertisement - Article continues below Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below And what's head of design Leclercq's take on the retro design trend? '[Customers like it for] reassurance. I'd like to go back to the past for some projects, it's interesting,' he explained. 'They've done a great job with the Renault 5. Do we want to do it – and as much as they do? It's a good question: why not? Why yes? There's nothing planned, really. But we don't forbid ourselves to try.' Given the Citroen 2CV's design is so of its time and would need dragging into a new millennium, do the risks outweigh the rewards? 'It's a very difficult exercise,' concedes Leclercq. 'You could do a 2CV, you could do an H-type, a CX, we could easily bring back cars from the past. But obviously, the first one coming to everyone's mind is the 2CV, asking 'when do you bring it back?' Mmmm. Let's see.' There's no doubt a team as creative as Leclercq and his designers will have sketches and probably scale models of a reborn Citroen 2CV. Renault's future 5 had already been designed and rejected by a previous management team before the current CEO Luca de Meo arrived in 2020 and green-lit the proposal. Advertisement - Article continues below Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below But the critical question is whether a new 2CV is retro or a reimagining? Citroen's product planners will be trying to estimate demand for different approaches: could a concept car be a way to test the water, we asked Koskas? 'It could be this is what we want to do,' replied the then-CEO. 'The C5 Aircross concept was a show car, which means you are very close to the series model: it's a good marketing strategy. But our next concept car will show ideas, clues, intentions, directions that will inspire the future cars, but probably means you'll never see a Citroen car like that on the road. As we did with the Citroen Oli concept in 2022.' There are many more considerations than the design. Does Citroen have the budget, design and engineering capacity, or does it need to shelve other projects to accommodate a 2CV? Where would the production car be built? And which car platform and drivetrains would it use? The original Citroen 2CV measured 3.82-metres long and stood 1.6m tall, thanks to its jacked-up height for tackling rough terrain. The new C3 hatch isn't much longer, measuring 4m and 1.57m. That suggests the C3's front-wheel-drive 'smart car' platform could provide a usable base, especially given its clever engineering would help keep costs low, as per the 2CV philosophy. Advertisement - Article continues below Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below The Stellantis Group underpinnings unlock a choice of pure electric or three-cylinder hybrid petrol power, which would be mounted transversely and drive the front wheels, like the original car. The extra cylinder and packaging a modern car's ancillaries and crash structure would make matching the Citroen 2CV's nose impossible. So could Citroen find inspiration in the reborn Renault 4, a hatchback originally launched in 1961 to steal 2CV customers with its extra speed and sophistication? Although it was 'not a very nice-looking car,' according to Renault Group design director Laurens van den Acker, who was tasked with updating it. What his team has done so effectively is take a few design cues – the rearmost trapezoidal glass panel, tail-light motif, low-set boot and the graphic of the second-generation's grille – and turn them into a cute SUV. It's a stretch, literally: the reborn 4 is almost 50cm longer than the sixties hatch. But the original 4's two-box shape lends itself to an SUV. Could Citroen do the same and reinvent the 2CV as an SUV? Maybe. But at that point is it actually a 2CV at all? The naysayers within Citroen will argue it's a moot point anyway. Because a 21st century 2CV already exists – it's the Citroen C3, Auto Express's Car of the Year 2024. Advertisement - Article continues below Skip advert Advertisement - Article continues below Philosophically it meets the 2CV's brief and remains true to its forebears' values. It's affordable – with the newly announced 34kWh battery, the e-C3 will cost less than £20,000 when it comes on stream in late 2025. It's comfortable: the hydraulic bump stops give it a pillowy ride, although it will struggle to carry a basket of eggs across a ploughed field. And there's clever simplicity, such as the digital driver's binnacle situated at the top of the dash rather than an expensive head-up display projected onto the windscreen. The decision to proceed with a reborn Citroen 2CV is still to be taken. 'When you develop a car, it takes four years,' says Citroen's boss. 'You start the studies and so on, then in the middle you sign a contract when the car is decided, and this is when you can probably start to communicate about the car. We are not at that stage yet.' He agrees the 2CV and new C3 share a philosophy. 'When we talk about daring, comfort, simplicity, affordability, [the C3] is very much in line with what Citroen was in the past,' says Thierry Koskas. But he'll be the first to tell you that today's Citroens are also built on sustainability and daring. The MINI, Fiat 500 and Renault 5 have paved the way. Nothing would be more daring than bringing back the 2CV. Does Citroen dare? And can it possibly win? Over to you, new CEO Xavier Chardon. Are there any classic cars you would like to see receive a modern-day remake? Let us know in the comments section below... View C3 View C3 View C3 Find a car with the experts New Kia Sportage breaks cover and it's sleeker than ever New Kia Sportage breaks cover and it's sleeker than ever Full specification and details have been announced for the UK version of Kia's big-selling mid-size SUV Car Deal of the Day: get a big Nissan Qashqai for less than a little Nissan Juke Car Deal of the Day: get a big Nissan Qashqai for less than a little Nissan Juke The Nissan Qashqai is a top choice among Brits, and it's easy to see why with offers like this. It's our Deal of the Day for 4 June Nissan Qashqai alternatives: cars you could buy instead of Nissan's big-selling SUV Nissan Qashqai alternatives: cars you could buy instead of Nissan's big-selling SUV The Nissan Qashqai has been a hit since the first generation launched in 2006, but if it's not quite your cup of tea, we've rounded up the best of the… Best cars & vans 3 Jun 2025
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Citroen C3 Aircross
Citroen is going all-in on affordability. When it launched the new C3 it was hailed as the new-age affordable car to take the supermini crown. The axing of the Ford Fiesta had left a suitable hole that it was looking to fill. Now, its big sibling, the C3 Aircross, has arrived, with the same value positioning but with added practicality. This second-generation crossover lands once again in the B-SUV segment. It is positioned as one of the cheapest propositions available, starting from just over £20,000 while kitted with a generous level of equipment. Only the Dacia Duster, in bare-bones Essential form, undercuts it at £18,000. The Citroën's low price, as with the smaller C3, is partly down to Stellantis's new cost-saving architecture called 'Smart Car' – the new model makes the switch from the PFA1 platform, which dates back to the Peugeot 206. The C3 Aircross line-up opens with Plus spec from £20,240 – £2500 more than the smaller C3 – and rising to £25,740 for the Max trim; here you'll find luxuries like heated seats. Unlike other Citroën models, no basic You! trim is offered in the UK, although its value standing suggests it could be added in the future. Citroën thinks that buyers looking at the C3 Aircross will most likely be swayed by how it looks rather than how it drives, which explains its radical redesign. The new generation car is a big departure from the car it replaces. Design boss Pierre Leclercq said the second generation car was – along with the new C3 – a clean sheet design that brings a different attitude to the segment. Citroen is expecting plenty of conquest sales. As effectively a raised version of the C3, the C3 Aircross retains much of what makes its smaller sibling pretty. This includes the split headlight design, squared nose, and sculpted side panels. Differences are an extra bit of contrasting plastic under the numberplates. In the flesh, it is quite a bold looking thing, and so has a presence on the road. The underbite design at the front is particularly striking, especially in Montana Green. Citroën's new badge design also adds a classy touch. I personally prefer it to the smaller C3. Like the exterior, it's a similar story inside, with our Max trim test car's funky split dashboard that's centered around a 10.25in touchscreen. Naturally given the C3 Aircross' value positioning, there is plenty of cheap plastic to be found, but Citroen has done a good job to lift the ambience. There are some nice looking materials such as the sofa-like fabric on the dashboard, however it does feel a tad cheap to the touch. There's also ambient lighting and there are labels dotted around with inspirational slogans like 'be cool/have fun'. The latter are a bit corny, but it adds a touch of fun to the cabin. The touchscreen, although it's supposedly new, feels rather last-generation and having to adjust the media volume via the touchscreen is impractical. It's odd that a volume knob has been left out because elsewhere, there are physical switches and buttons, including for the heating and ventilation and to turn off the speed limit warning (which is far from infallible). Instead of a traditional driver's display, the information is projected onto a bar just underneath the base of the windscreen. It's a neat solution that's reminiscent of the old C4 Picasso, and it works better than the i-Cockpit in most Peugeots because the display is positioned high enough that you can easily see it over the small, square steering wheel. The C3 Aircross has one more ace up its sleeve: it can be had with seven seats. At just 4.39m, it is the shortest seven seater on the market. Opting for the seven-seater version (a £765 option on Max trim) reduces the boot space from 460 litres to 330 (still 20 litres more than the C3 supermini) with the third row down, and the third row is obviously very tight, but it is quite a rare feature. Having said that, at £18,295 the Dacia Jogger is more commodious and cheaper still. The Smart Car platform allows for the fitment of both petrol and electric powertrains (the latter badged ë-C3 Aircross), and the C3 Aircross takes full advantage of this. Petrol buyers can choose from two setups, both with Stellantis's ubiquitous turbocharged 1.2-litre 'Puretech' three-cylinder. The entry-level model has 99bhp and a six-speed manual gearbox, or for a bit extra, you can upgrade to a 134bhp hybrid system with an electric motor integrated into the six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. It offers a very simplified driving experience with just one drive mode and a fixed level of regenerative braking. It's able to drive on electric power for short distances and at lowish speeds. When more power is called for the transition from electric to combustion drive is noticeable but not overly so. Performance is adequate for an entry-level crossover, but the accelerator response is a tad dull and the long gearing makes it feel somewhat sluggish. The kick-down could also be more responsive. Like the smaller C3, the Citroën's Advanced Comfort seats are well bolstered and comfy on longer journeys but even on the top trim, the passenger seat doesn't adjust for height. The brand has embraced ride comfort in recent years, and that applies to the Aircross as well. It uses Citroën's hydraulic bump stops for a soft ride to good effect, although Britain's pockmarked roads might present more of a challenge than our Barcelona test route's pristine roads. The soft suspension translates to generous body roll. Although nice to handle, the new wheel lacks any real feedback, but has a nice weight around town. At speed, the wheel's elasticated nature to recentre itself proves more of a problem, making it hard to place. This is especially true on a winding motorway section while overtaking. The new C3 Aircross offers excellent value in the segment. At £20,240, it is only beaten on price by the most bare-bones Duster that comes in at £18,000 – and the Romanian SUV doesn't offer any type of infotainment in this guise. The C3 Aircross line-up opens with Plus spec – £2500 more than the smaller C3 – and rising to £25,740 for the Max trim. In this top-rung guise you'll find luxuries like heated seats. The trims mirror that in the ë-C3 Aircross. The new C3 Aircross is a comfortable, spacious, practical and easy to use family hauler, with the option to add a third row – even if those back seats aren't really usable for longer journeys. We liked the smaller C3, and we like its bigger sibling too. It is budget friendly and offers great equipment levels for that money. It also looks funky and the cabin is a genuinely nice place to be. Currently, for the price, there is little else that beats it. One to try. ]]>
