The ongoing mystery of whether Citroen is going to revive its famous 2CV is set to be solved at this year’s Paris Motor Show in October. A radical concept car is expected to be revealed showing Citroen’s direction for an affordable small electric car, with the 2CV being a clear inspiration.
Our rendering shows what a new car with the spirit of the 2CV could look like.
Buoyed by the success of Renault’s retro 4 and 5 models, not to mention Fiat’s 500 and the Mini, the new small Citroen is set to do battle with a host of new, affordable EV city cars from the likes of Volkswagen and Kia.
The European Union’s recent announcement of incentives to support a new class of small EV, dubbed M1E, is also likely to boost the possibility of a new, small Citroen.
Speaking to The Independent at the recent Brussels Motor Show, Citroen CEO Xavier Chardon was asked directly if the iconic 2CV was about to be reinvented. Chardon responded: “Answering yes or no is difficult. Are we looking at the 2CV to inspire ourselves? Yes. Why? Because it's an icon of Citroen, an icon of the past. If you are in Paris, you will see the people that are getting married, they don't ask for a Rolls Royce, they ask for a 2CV.
“The question is retro design; does it make sense or not? And if you look at the market, you have different answers. You have successes, the MINI, the Fiat 500, and you have also failures.
“What is important when you are looking at icons, more than the design, is to understand what made them iconic models. And if you look at the 2CV it was pretty simple: it’s the car that put people on wheels after World War Two, in France and in many other markets. And the brief was quite simple: you put four farmers under a roof, 50 kilos of potatoes in the back and you can carry six eggs without breaking them.”
Chardon added: “Of course you cannot translate this 100 per cent to today, but you have to adapt it. So today you can replace the farmers with a nurse, you can integrate elements about CO2 emissions, about low consumptions, about being affordable, having a good TCO [Total Cost of Ownership]. So, there are elements that you can transfer into the future and once you do this, I think it's so more than doing pure design – the purpose has to be reinterpreted.
“So, are we looking at the success genes of a 2CV? Yes, to inspire us for the future. This is a yes. Will it be a 2CV? That’s a question mark.”
Chardon has only been in the Citroen CEO role since June last year, and has yet to implement his own vision on the product, but he hinted that more would be revealed at the Paris Motor Show. “My vision is not very different than what you see here because the brand is working. One point where I’m putting a lot of energy is on the quality and reliability. That’s why we put eight year’s warranty in our cars to bring this commitment to quality. That’s very important, but what is important for me is that we are reconnecting with the innovation at an affordable price.
“We are also paving the future too early to discuss openly. We'll see the next elements at the Paris Motor Show, and then we'll have to bring them into real life for real customers.”
Chardon also revealed his vision for Citroen’s core values – caring, clever and creative – while leaning on Citroen’s history would give his brand an edge over Chinese rivals. And that would lead to bolder Citroens in the future. “You have to come to leverage your history that they don't have, and you have to leverage new concepts where I believe that we can be bolder than they are.
“I think we have to be bolder. We were very bold with Ami and I believe that with the future of Citroen, you have to be bold in design, in concept, if you want to stand out.”
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