Citroen is planning to broaden its horizons by offering a new product family for the ‘iPod generation’. It would be the fourth Citroen product family and will be positioned alongside the DS range, the regular Citroën brand and the Picasso MPV family.
Peugeot-Citroën design boss, Jean-Pierre Ploué said that the firm will introduce the new line at the forthcoming Paris motor show. Industry bystanders expected Citroën was preparing to launch a budget model line, but Ploué denied the proposal.
“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. I cannot reveal its name yet, but this 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 mentioned Citroën’s 2CV as the inspiration for its new model family, “not for the appearance of the car, but for its innovative spirit”. However, the real motivation for the brand is the C-Cactus concept, which debuted at the 2007 Frankfurt motor show.
The 4.2m C-Cactus was considered “too challenging and radical” to be put into production as a Citroën earlier this year, but it could hit retailers under the new product line.
“The C3 Picasso would also be a model for the new sub-brand, if we were making it today,” Ploué said. “It’s a youthful, innovative, efficient and simple design. DS is all about ‘Frenchness’, sculpture and sophistication, while the new brand is the antithesis of that. It appeals through its stark, pared-down simplicity, to a different, younger customer than DS.”
One of the first models to be launched under the new sub-brand would be a supermini that would indirectly replace the aged and now axed C2 supermini. “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,” Ploué said.
With Citroen, Peugeot RC HYmotion4 is a field that is increasingly cluttered with hybrid concepts using a new system that can take the road to be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show. Fortunately for Peugeot, they have managed not just recycle or rebadge an existing model, but have incorporated this technology into an boldly attractive four door GT coupe.
Peugeot has joined sister-brand Citroen by releasing a concept vehicle based on the new HYmotion4 AWD hybrid system. The new concept is according to Peugeot, a ‘Touring Car Coupe’ that features a number of engineering and technological ideas expected to make their way, if only gradually, into both of the carmaker’s future production models. Unlike the hybrid systems used by current production vehicles, this concept has no direct mechanical connection between the electric and internal combustion drive systems. This way, the RC can operate in either rear, front, or all-wheel-drive modes. That means it can also operate using internal combustion, electric only or blended mode combining both. Propelling this concept is a rear mounted turbocharged 1.6 liter engine driving the rear wheels and producing 218 hp and 206 lb-ft of torque. Up front, an electric motor provides up to another 132 lb-ft of torque and provides a governed combined production of 313 horsepower. This sort of power pays of with acceleration to 62 mph in a mere 4.4 seconds. The electrons are stored in a lithium-ion battery pack of an as unreleased size, but having the electric motor at the front instead of the rear axle means that more kinetic energy can be recaptured through the regenerative braking process. According to Peugeot, the RC can get 52.3 mpg with a minimum output of just 109 g/km of CO2 emissions. 
Other Hymotion4 concepts in the mix for the future include Peugeot’s Prologue, which previews an upcoming 3008 crossover, as well as the Citroen Hypnos and C4 WRC rally car. These concepts, according to the manufacturer, are a synthesis of ideas that demonstrate a commitment to both respecting the environment and driving pleasure. If all of the technology that is used within this concept lives up to the manufacturer claims, the French may have the inside track in future hybrid production.
