The curtain has fallen for the Citroën C4 Cactus. The last car has rolled off the line and that is the end of a career of six years for the striking Frenchman.
At its introduction in 2014, the C4 Cactus was such a typical case love it or hate it. It was a striking car not only because of its appearance. Given its platform and pricing, the Cactus was a B-segmenter, but in terms of size it was more like a C-segmenter. The Cactus stood out for a number of reasons. First of all, there were of course the ‘Airbumps’ in the doors, which were taken directly from the Cactus Concept in the production model. In addition to their unique appearance, these air-filled plastic elements also had a protective function. The headlights were another striking design element of the C4 Cactus: the daytime running lights and headlight units are separated from each other. For whom all this was not striking enough, the Cactus could be ordered in a number of bright colors. This fluorescent yellow item from the used car range is a perfect example of this.
Despite its controversial appearance, the C4 Cactus proved to be a hit, especially in its first years of life. In our country, a total of 18,222 units were sold. According to the table below, it went particularly fast in 2015 when no fewer than 7,050 Cacti rolled out of the showrooms. The tax authorities accelerated the sales figures of the Frenchman somewhat, because in 2015 the business driver was still able to drive him with a relatively favorable addition of 14 percent. Given the space that the Cactus offered for its price, the choice was an easy one for many. After 2015, that benefit partially expired and you could see that in the sales figures. In 2018, Citroën came up with a facelift for the Cactus. This had slightly less prominent ‘Airbumps’ and included the ‘Progressive Hydraulic Cushions’, which made it noticeably more comfortable than before. In addition, Citroën made the interior a bit more high-quality and functional. However, that also had a price: the Cactus suddenly cost a lot more. The starting price suddenly amounted to more than € 21,000, where it previously was just over € 17,000. This price increase only further contributed to the declining sales.
The facelift of the C4 Cactus only lasted for two years, because Citroën ends the production of the striking model. Yet the underlying idea of the Cactus has not completely disappeared from the range of Citroën. In a way, the new C4 can be seen as a successor: just like the Cactus, this model stands on a B-segment platform, but is a lot bigger and more spacious. Compared to the C4 Cactus, the C4 even measures 20 centimeters extra in length. In addition, just like the C4 Cactus, the C4 has separate headlights and there is one modest ‘Airbump’ at the bottom of the front doors on either side. The curtain may have fallen for the C4 Cactus, but the thinking behind it still lives on to a certain extent.