French giant Citroen is going back to basics with its new family car. But don’t call it a ‘no-frills’ budget crossover vehicle, or Citroen executives will get prickly.
It’ll be cheerful, but not that cheap, though ‘value for money’ is promised.
Instead, they describe their new C4 Cactus as a car which ‘sheds the superfluous’ and eliminates unnecessary and fiddly knobs and buttons.
But while being frugal and almost minimalist, it’ll still be sophisticated and eye-catching.
A prototype, unveiled at this month’s Frankfurt Motor Show, offers a pretty clear idea what the production version will look like when launched in February, just ahead of the Geneva Motor Show.
Soon after, it will be in showrooms from around £14,000.
The first things to catch the eye are the curious blisters of air-filled plastic, which adorn the sides of the door and bodywork.
These ‘airbumps’ are designed to protect the car from those irritating scratches, bumps and dings in car parks and from frenetic urban driving. Citroen says they will be standard on the production model and that buyers — of both new and second-hand models — will be able to customise and update them with different colours.
Its interior makes great play of the simplified
dashboard dominated by a large central control screen, but without a
Jumbo Jet array of buttons
The firm’s engineers even tested their effectiveness by pushing a heavily loaded shopping trolley against the side of the car to see how it fared.
The Cactus captures the spirit of the classic C itroen 2CV — developed before World War II and buried for the duration to keep it out of the hands of the occupying Germans, only to emerge as a revolutionary, but simple new car for peacetime.
The Cactus seeks to do the same for the iPad generation.
Its interior makes great play of the simplified dashboard dominated by a large central control screen, but without a Jumbo Jet array of buttons.
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Rising star Peugeot boss Maxime Picat was in Britain for an entertaining and revealing lunch this week in what is now one of the world’s biggest French cities — London.
As the exodus of refugees from Socialist France continues apace, escaping from eurozone troubles and crippling taxes, the engaging Picat was spelling out Peugeot’s ambitious plans to go more upmarket, target more of the middle classes, and beat the rival Germans at their own game — quality.
The bad news for motorists counting their pennies is that they will also become more expensive — chic but not cheap.
At just 39, the engaging father of three is already global directorgeneral of Automobiles Peugeot, having run the French car giant’s China operations for more than five years.
Within a decade, Peugeot aims to match Volkswagen quality, with the Golf seen as benchmark. But the watchword will also be vive la difference; to make Peugeot cars, such as the new 208, stand out from the massed German ranks.
Another major challenge is to attract younger customers who do not have the same passion and enthusiasm about cars of earlier generations, caring more about having the latest smartphones and high-tech gadgets.
As the pace of life quickens, people will increasingly lease cars and swap them more often. But Picat admits: ‘It takes seven years to develop a new car. You can’t develop a new car as quickly as software.’
Thankfully, cars don’t crash as often either.
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Volkswagen's Golf has been named What Car?’s used car of the year. It also picked up the gong for best pre-owned family car.
Judges praised its ‘impressive cabin quality and refinement, comfort, driveability, running costs and impressive safety credentials’.
What Car? editor-in-chief C has Hallett said: ‘What clearly sets the Golf apart from other small family cars is its cabin.’
Vauxhall was crowned best manufacturer for its N etwork Q approved used scheme.
And readers voted Honda as ‘the manufacturer they would trust most when buying a used car’.
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Bond's new wheels: How the Mail broke the story
It is the car whose name became a byword for middle Britain — ‘Mondeo Man’.
It’s also featured in Bond films as well as the recent big-screen version of The Sweeney.
Owners have been courted by politicians as the make-or-break voters whose backing could propel their party to Government — or consign them to five years of opposition.
Now, to celebrate 20 years of the Mondeo, Ford has produced an online film charting the journey of the car Britain took to its heart.
Ford has enlisted Bafta-nominated actor Ray Winstone to offer up his thoughts in his distinctive Cockney twang.
The film also includes a youthful- looking, up-and-coming Top Gear presenter called Jeremy Clarkson who, in 1993, gives his opinion of the vehicle as being ‘best in class’. Winstone’s involvement follows his association with Ford over the past two decades.
Last year, he played Jack Regan in The Sweeney movie, driving the Flying Squad Focus ST. And in 2006, I reported exclusively how the Mondeo would feature with Daniel Craig in the Casino Royale, thanks to a sponsorship deal with Ford which, at the time, also owned Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover, whose cars also featured prominently in the picture.
The anniversary is marked later this year with the Graphite and Titanium X Business special editions.
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