2009 Highlights
90 Years of Technological Innovation and Automotive Creation
The Citroën brand, founded in 1919, is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. Citroën has a strong culture nourished by the unwavering desire to understand, surprise and satisfy its customers.
Citroën has always designed with the future in mind. The Type A was Europe’s first mass-production car, launched in 1919. The Traction Avant wrote the rules on the modern automobile 75 years ago. The 2CV made motoring freedom accessible to all. The DS embodied the power of progress.
The Marque has come up with the goods for its anniversary year, releasing the C3 Picasso ‘spacebox’ in the first quarter and the new C3 ‘visiodrive’ at the end of the year. Click here to read more.
Citroën Reinvents Itself
As the French Car maker celebrates its 90th birthday in 2009, Citroën is reinvents itself with a new visual identity, a new range of products that brings back one of the most famous names from its history, the Citroën DS, and sets a new standard for its customer relations.
In a difficult economic context, and in a period of changing automotive uses and new relationships between customers and brands, Citroën is taking action and reinventing itself.
A New Identity
The Citroën logo is the first visible sign of change implemented. The chevrons have broken free from their frame and become three-dimensional, taking on relief and gaining in strength and body. Bridging Citroën’s past and future, the colour red is used for the new brand name typography. The red assumes a new, deeper tone.
Creative Technology
The alliance of creativity and technology has always been a part of Citroën's DNA.
Citroën was the first to propose Stop & Start technology, on the C2 and C3. It is the European leader on automated manual gearboxes and a pioneer in particulate filters. The Marque illustrated its ecological and economical commitment in 2008 by confirming its European leadership on vehicles emitting 110 g/km of CO2 or less, thanks to the C1.
Rather than aiming for pure technological exploits, Citroën innovates for the benefit of its customers. It invented Hydractive suspension, the wide-angle panoramic windscreen, new driving aids such as the lane departure warning system, the head-up display, Snow Motion and SOS Emergency. It has also developed new architectures and maximum modularity, as seen on the C3 Picasso.
Citroën has the boldness to completely rethink the automobile, rather than rehash existing solutions. Reinterpreting the conventional saloon concept with sophistication and elegance, the C5 exceeded its sales objective in 2008.
The C4 Picasso visiospace has transformed the segment, becoming the leading model in its class in 2008. Launched in first-quarter 2009, the C3 Picasso has the same ambitions.With the new Berlingo, launched in May 2008, and Nemo, launched in February 2008, Citroën has a range of five, renewed light commercial vehicles, making it the standard-setter in this segment.For the future, the Hypnos concept car heralds diesel hybrid technology and C-Cactus a new vision of the automobile.
New Berlingo & New C4 Arrives in Australia
Australia's most loved Citroën, just gets better - The Citroën C4
The car that uses a dancing robot to illustrate just how alive it is with technology, the Citroën C4, has been given a boost of new technology and a fresh face to maintain the French car maker’s mid size car at the forefront of intelligent design. As world sales of the Citroën C4 approach 900,000, the facelift C4 made its world debut at October's Paris International Motor Show and arrived in Australia from May this year.
Updated styling and the introduction of two new petrol engines, co-developed with BMW, add to making the model even more alive with technology than ever before. On the outside the C4 features a restyled front end, echoing the looks of the new C5. Offering a more prestigious look with added chrome touches, a new curvier bonnet and restyled grille the C4's image is stronger and more dynamic. New alloy wheels and four new body colours set off the refreshed look.
Boosting the feeling of quality inside the cabin, the restyled C4 also benefits from an enhanced interior with new velour or leather upholstery together with special paint finishes and new premium grained trim on the dashboard and door panels. The rev-counter has been repositioned to the central translucent dashboard display so that all driving information is in one place. Click here to read more.
A True Professional at Your Service - Citroën Berlingo
Few vehicles have had such a significant impact on the market place as the Citroën Berlingo with it changing the face of the commercial vehicle market place in every market in which it has been sold. Given that Citroën, arguably, invented the whole idea of box van with the Citro^n TUB and the car derived van with the Citroën 2CV van, setting the design standard for the two most common van types, it should be no surprise that the original Berlingo was such a benchmark in commercial vehicle design.
The new Berlingo arrived in Australia in February this year and it sports a fresh clean design, with its bonneted good looks and box van carrying ability. But so much is also new. Once again the new Berlingo sits on a world-beating platform, in this case the Citroën C4 Picasso platform, which is derived from the underpinnings of the World Rally Championship dominating Citroën C4 WRC car.
By moving to the bigger platform from the C4 Picasso, the new Berlingo offers significantly more space, up from 3.0 to 3.3 cubic metres, but there is more. The original Berlingo had a optional simple folding seat that provided a table – the new Berlingo has a new seat, both a table and a load space extender, lifting the volume to 3.7 cubic metres. Click here to read more.
New DS3 Revealed, and other exciting products
The new DS3
The new DS3 impressed audiences when it was revealed at the Frankfurt Motorshow this year. Here's what you can look forward to with the new DS3, set to arrive in Australia next year.....
The Citroën DS3 is designed and built for style and exclusivity, equipped for luxury and comfort, but with the size and technology that makes it environmentally sensitive and easy to use in the city.
The exclusivity of the Citroën DS3 starts with the name; it is the first of a range of new elite models from Citroën that will be followed by the DS4 and DS5. Setting the DS3 apart from the rest of the Citroën range is its own, individual sense of style, including a ‘floating’ roof, a ‘shark fin’ that lends vigour to the waistline, and recesses on the nose housing LED lights. This unique style continues inside with an atmosphere where elegance and technology meet and marks of quality abound. The sophisticated instrumentation – with three conical dials on the cluster – driver-focused commands, low-set driving position and body-hugging seats lend a cockpit feel. Chrome trim further enhances the overall sense of vitality with luxury and distinction.
The DS3 is a stand-out on the road, combining driving pleasure and everyday ease of use. Nimble and energetic, the DS3 brings the driver “closer” to the road for effortless cornering. The DS3’s on-road assurance gives it crisp reactions and top-level control and safety. Another innovative aspect of the DS3 is how its sleek body styling disguises an impressively versatile hatchback.
The Citroën DS3 is planned to make its debut in Australia in mid 2010, when local prices and specification will be announced. Click here to read more.
The new Citroën C3
Citroën’s ambitious objective with the new C3 is to renew a best-selling car that has sold in more than 2 million units. Frédéric Banzet, Managing Director of Citroën, said, "This is a major launch for the Marque and gives us the means to achieve our ambition of increasing market share, with both private and professional customers."
To make this happen, Citroën has taken the best of the C3 and stepped it up a notch. The brand’s new 'Visiodrive' has what it takes to succeed: a unique, prestigious personality, with curvaceous yet taut styling and a cabin that sets a new standard in the segment on materials, design and finish quality, intelligent architecture for outstanding roominess, responsive and responsible road behaviour with controlled fuel consumption for all powertrains and an ambitious CO2 reduction programme. The new Citroën C3 will be available in Australia in mid 2010. Click here to read more.
Citroën World Rally Championship Victory
Citroën has entered the motor sport history books with 5 Manufacturers' titles and 6 Drivers' titles for Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena in the World Rally Championship. This rich rally history proves the brand's technology mastery and competitive hunger.
For Citroën, rallying remains a core activity for the French car maker, building the image of the company and demonstrating its technical competence.
Citroën has just completed another outstanding season for 2009 in securing yet another Manufacturers’ and Drivers’ world titles in the World Rally Championship. The Citroën driver, Sébastien Loeb is now the most successful rally driver of all time. Next year in 2010, the world famous Kimi Raikkonen will join the Citroën/Red Bull Rally team. Raikkonen has won 18 Formula 1 Grands Prix and claimed the Formula 1 world crown in 2007 will compete in a Citroën C4. Click here to read more.
