No “Standard” Designs Ahead for Citroen Brand

PSA Peugeot Citroen is banking on deliberately quirky and unconventional vehicle designs to help the Citroen brand reinvent itself under CEO Linda Jackson.

Citroen strategy chief Mathieu Bellamy tells Automotive News Europe that virtually every one of the brand’s next-generation models will be “definitely very quirky.”

The first such vehicle, the uniquely styled C4 Cactus mini-crossover, debuted in 2014 and surpassed its 12-month sales target of 70,000 units by 4,000 units. Last June, Jackson said the company would increase annual Cactus output by 10,000 vehicles and introduce the vehicle in Australia, South Africa and perhaps southeast Asia.

Bellamy adds that Citroen will roll out equally unconventional models at a rate of at least one per year, including dramatically revised versions of its conventional C4 and C5 sedans.

This year’s redesigned model is expected to be a production version of the Cactus-inspired Aircross concept, which the company presented at the Shanghai auto show last April. The prototype was fitted with a hybrid powertrain that combines a 1.6-liter, 218-hp gasoline engine and 95-hp rear-mounted electric motor that isn’t likely to go into production.