Citroen Goes Mainstream With New C4 Model

PARIS – Because Automobiles Citroen is splitting its entry in Europe’s C-segment, it has fixed a goal of 100,000 new C4 sales for next year, only half the best level achieved by the previous-generation car.

The factory at Mulhouse, France, has started production and sales of the new C4, and in January it will begin producing the up-market spin-off Citroen DS4. Together, Citroen anticipates the two vehicles will gain share in the C-segment, which accounts for 16 million vehicles globally each year.

“The C4 was designed to be a normal car,” says spokesman Jean-Pierre Duvivier. “The DS4 will be showier.”

Where the previous-generation C4 had a silhouette easily identified on the road, with a near-vertical rear window, the new one has a classic 5-door shape that the spokesman says is expected by customers for cars such as the Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus and Renault Megane.

The DS4, introduced as an exterior-only pre-production concept at the Paris auto show, has a more sculpted design, and hiding rear-door handles in the C-pillar gives it the look of a coupe. It will go on sale in the second quarter next year at prices somewhat higher than the C4’s €17,000-€27,000 ($23,600-$37,600) range in France.

To give it more widespread appeal, the C4 was lengthened by 2.1 ins. (5.4 cm) and trunk space was enlarged by 30%, answering one of the biggest customer complaints concerning its predecessor.

Despite the extra bulk, PSA Peugeot Citroen engineers managed to reduce mass by 11 lbs. (5 kg) in cars powered by the popular 1.6L Hdi diesel.

C4’s more conventional 5-door shape.

Mass savings in some places were erased by additional features in other areas, mainly in its growth in size. The car not only is longer, it also is 0.8 ins. (2.0 cm) wider and 1.2 ins. (3.0 cm) taller.

Citroen saved 3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) when it abandoned the steering wheel with a fixed center that it introduced in 2004 on the previous model.

Attacking noise generation at the source and adding a sound absorbing tunnel under the car reduced the need for other insulation material, saving a net 11 lbs. (5 kg). Using high-strength steel in more areas shaved about 33 lbs. (15 kg), and laser welding the doors and roof trimmed another 4 lbs. (2 kg).

The C4 is the first Citroen to get the new-generation stop/start system with reversible alternator that, during deceleration, regenerates electricity for the battery and super capacitor used in restarting the car.

Stop/start is offered only on the one diesel engine, the 1.6L e-Hdi 110 hp, and it is associated with Citroen’s Electronic Gearbox System, a 6-speed electronically controlled manual transmission.

Some 45% of buyers of the C4 Picasso people mover choose that gearbox, which works as an automatic, says Alain Joseph, an engineer on the C4 program.

For the C4, Citroen expects 15% of customers to select the e-Hdi and transmission option during the first year.

Citroen has been pushing the solution for a decade as a less-expensive way to change gears than an automatic, and a more ecological way than a manual. The gearbox alone saves 5 g/km of carbon-dioxide emissions.

While the stop/start system adds 33 lbs. to the vehicle, with its fuel-saving benefits and special low-rolling resistance 16-in. Michelin tires, the C4 will emit just 109 g/km of CO2. With the regular Hdi 110 engine, CO2 emissions are 119 g/km.

Diesel engines are offered with 90-hp, 110-hp and 150-hp outputs, and gasoline engines are rated at 95 hp, 120 hp and 155 hp. CO2 emissions with the diesels are all below 130 g/km, and the gasoline engines range from 140 g/km to 162 g/km.

In addition to features such as blind-spot detection and a 230V electric outlet in the car that fall under the brand’s “Creative Technology” slogan, the C4 is marketed for its ecological awareness.

Some 70% of the weight of the car is easily recycled metals. Another 5% is fluids, and 5% is glass and other minor materials.

The rest is plastic, and among the 441 lbs. (200 kg) of plastic in the car, 15% is what PSA calls “green material.”

That includes recycled polypropylene used in the air-intake grille support, recycled glass fillers employed in the soundproofing shield under the powertrain and natural materials such as the cellulose found in the headliner.