If we deliberately ignore the very first Citroën bearing the name C4, launched in 1928 (see our photo gallery), thehe model of the contemporary era appeared twenty years ago, in November 2004, with the aim of taking over, in the range, from the compact Xsara sedan. Very traditional in design, the Citroën C4 is in fact the heir of a long line born in the 1960s with the AMI then the GS distinguishing itself during the following decade.
Over the generations, the Citroën C4 has tried to find its place on the market but without managing to emerge from the shadow of its French rivals Peugeot 307 then 308 and Renault Mégane. Its goal has never been to titillate the segment benchmark, the Volkswagen Golf.
The Cactus Thorn
The double chevron brand even sought to create a diversion with the C4 Cactus from 2014 to 2020, presenting it first as a crossover then as a more classic sedan after restyling, a view dictated by the marketing of the brand which in both cases was unsuccessful. In 2020, the current Citroën C4 focuses on an SUV spirit and a dual thermal and electric offer. The offer is supplemented in 2022 by a trunk variant, the Citroën C4 X which was initially not intended for us. An original posture which deserves to be underlined but which does not allow the manufacturer to return to the forefront. However, Citroën has reduced the size and investments because its compact sedan is not based on the technical base of a Peugeot 308 but rather on that of the segment below, that of the much less expensive 208.
A strategy that will remain in place for its replacement expected in 2027 which will benefit from the STLA Smart chassis just released by the new Citroën C3 and C3 Aircross. And to further limit costs, manufacturing will no longer take place in Europe but will take place in North Africa where low-cost labor has attracted Carlos Tavares. This will be the Kénitra industrial site in Morocco which already assembles the basic version of the Peugeot 208 and the Citroën AMI electric quadricycle.
What posture for the Citroën C4 compared to Dacia?
Since its integration into the Stellantis galaxy, Citroën appears, to put it simply, as the anti-Dacia of the group. If the Citroën ë-C3 is opposed in a certain way to the Dacia Spring, the thermal C3 to the Sandero as to the Sandero Stepway, on the upper floor, the second generation C3 Aircross urban SUV enters into competing against the Dacia Duster due to its comparable size but also due to its seating capacity for 7, against the Dacia Jogger.
The next version of the Citroën C5 Aircross expected in 2025 will face the Dacia Bigster. Obviously a brand does not build its product plan in reaction to a designated rival, nevertheless in this competitive universe, the place remaining for the C4 remains slim. The thesis of a coupe SUV that is both minimalist as prefigured by the Oli concept car holds the rope especially since this type of silhouette has just arrived on the Indian and Latin American markets, it is the Citroën Basalt . While the C4 X will battle with the future Dacia C-Neo.
Published on 11/29/2024 at 5:00 p.m.
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