Value-focused Citroen C3 platform set to underpin C4 successor

Citroën C4 successor, here imagined by Autocar, will take inspiration from the Oli concept

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5 mins read

20 December 2024

Citroën is open to using its new low-cost Smart Car platform for larger models as it seeks to bring down the cost of new cars in a fightback against them being laden with unnecessary technology.

CEO Thierry Koskas told Autocar in a press conference following the new Citroën C3’s nomination to the Car of the Year 2025 shortlist that the rising costs of new cars would mean buyers of larger models would also look to benefit from cost reductions that the brand is bringing to the supermini segment with the C3’s new Smart Car platform.

He said there are “no limits” to scaling up the Smart Car platform to be used in C-segment models [C4-sized] in the future and this is a “direction we would like to explore”.

“What we’ve said about the B-segment [C3-sized] and the need for essential cars with the right level of features, one day there will be a case for in the C-segment. Larger families interested in space but at a reasonable price. There is the opportunity to do bigger cars and this is an option we would like to do.”

Koskas said the Smart Car platform and the models based on it, starting with the new C3 and ë-C3, had been designed in a similar way to how Dacia creates its products: by setting the cost first, then allocating a budget to each individual component.

He explained: “When we started the development of the car, everybody knew how much they had to spend. Each component had an objective and target, because if you don’t do it globally, that doesn't work. You need to target everyone and to make everyone accountable in every parameter to meet the target cost.”

Pushing this philosophy into bigger cars would also mirror the behaviour of Dacia, which is moving into the C-segment for the first time in 2025 with the Bigster SUV.

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Koskas said that the level of technology on the C3 was carefully considered to ensure that it wasn't packed with things customers don’t want or need, which drives up the cost.

“When you look at what people expect in this segment, you don't need to be full of technology,” he said.

This pared-back approach was something Citroën would be pursuing for future models, Koskas added; like Dacia, the firm believes there is a market for such cars.

Citroën will also look to its Oli concept car for ways of cutting the price of its models by taking a more ‘essential’ approach.

“The cost of cars is increasing but the amount of money that people can dedicate to the car is not increasing," Koskas said. "It's even worse in the electric world, because you ask people to buy cars that are more expensive.

“To go back to a well-equipped but still simple and essential product is something we see as absolutely necessary, because the amount of money that people can dedicate to a car is not increasing like the prices of the cars.”

Koskas predicted that this will become a trend in the market for a segment of the market over the next few years, adding: “It's not somewhere where all brands will go, but there will be a place in the market and where we want to be.”

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Citroën will “comply with all government legislations” concerning the level of active and passive safety equipment and technology needed to sell cars in Europe, but Koskas said “the regulations on safety are getting more and more severe” and hinted at disquiet within the car industry about Euro NCAP trying to add its own requirements on top.

The car safety testing body “would like to have more, more and more”, he said.

He added: “To meet the safety regulations of the different states or the European Commission is already something where you have to add a lot of features, additions and so on to the car; that is our job and we do that.”

Koskas said the UK’s ZEV mandate, which requires manufacturers to sell a set percentage of EVs in increasing numbers each year, ensures that a sharp focus will be maintained on reducing the cost of EVs in order to ensure more widespread adoption.

“The mandate is good learning, because, as it's a step every year. Every year we have to make additional effort, and this will not be done if we are not able to lower the cost. So we need to continue to lower the cost. We have not finished the race for sure.”

More generally on EV sales, Koskas acknowledged that EVs need to be pushed at the moment and the reported sales volumes “are not completely natural” when compared with the demand.

Still, Citroën won't look to heavy discounts, as this would hurt residual values and the firm wants to help boost sales in a “clean way”.

Citroën’s performance in Europe in 2023 will likely mirror that of 2024, with a market share of around 3.5%.

Koskas said “to stabilise is something I’m quite happy with in tough market conditions”, particularly as it has been a changeover year for the C3, with production stopping for around three months.

With a full year of C3 sales, a facelift for the C4 and a new C5 Aircross SUV coming in 2025, there will be “fireworks for Citroën” and a return to growth, said Koskas, as it looks to push above a 4% market share.

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Koskas also believes that Citroën can have a cost advantage over rivals with the C5 Aircross and its more sophisticated underpinnings by being clever about where it sources parts – something it has control over, as the car is the only model built at its plant in Rennes, France.