New Citroën sub-brand to be presented in Paris

The Paris Motor Show has been chosen by Citroën to be the location for the presentation of its new sub-brand, told PSA Peugeot-Citroën design boss Jean-Pierre Ploué to Autocar. With this new product family Citroën will be wiling to widen the reach and appeal of its cars having as its main public the ‘iPod generation’.

The new product family would join the DS, the regular Citroën brand and the Picasso MPV family, to become the fourth sub brand in the French marque.

Although industry watchers have predicted that Citroën is preparing to launch a budget model line, Ploué says that “This is a brand defined not by price, but by simplicity and ingenuity of design. It’s our family of cars for those who value design purity above all else: for the iPod generation.”

Althogh Ploué can’t still reveal its name he said that the “brand will cause a lot of shock and surprise at Paris, I promise you. It’s a real departure for us – a break from tradition.”

Ploué also told Autocar that the innovative spirit of the iconic 2CV was the inspiration for the new model family. In terms of looks the new brand received its inspiration from the C-Cactus concept shown at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show.

In 2007 the C-Cactus became known for its unconventional cabin design, innovative packaging and simplified features. At the time the 4.2m-long compact family hatch was believed to be “too challenging” to be put into production as a Citroën. Seems that the concept will reach the showrooms under this new sub-brand.

According to Ploué, “the C3 Picasso would also be a model for the new sub-brand, if we were making it today. It’s a youthful, innovative, efficient and simple design."

PSA Peugeot-Citroën design boss also made a clear distinction between the DS family and the new sub-brand. “DS is all about ‘Frenchness’, sculpture and sophistication, while the new brand is the antithesis of that,” he said. “It appeals through its stark, pared-down simplicity, to a different, younger customer than DS.”

The new Citroën brand is likely to be working on a compact supermini, in order to fill the gap left by the end of the C2 model. On that matter Ploué said, “We’re not planning on replacing the C2 as a Citroën, but under the new brand we could use the opportunity to do something much more interesting.”