Citroën gives its idiosyncratic character a powerful boost. The brutal C3 Aircross and C5 Aircross were joined by the even more idiosyncratic C4 last year. The new C5 that the brand will present later this year follows the design path taken by Citroën with its smaller sister model.
Although Citroën has been selling the C5 Aircross in the Netherlands since 2018, we have had to do without a direct successor to the C5 for several years. The second generation was available as a sedan and as a station wagon and the last copies were registered in 2017. The age of the car undoubtedly played a role there, since the model dates back to the beginning of 2008. For years there have been rumors that the great Frenchman will eventually get a successor. That is going to happen, and even faster than you think. Probably this year we can welcome a direct successor to the C5, which is not quite what you expect from Citroën’s idiosyncratic character.
More than homages
Just like the C4, Citroën punctuates the new C5 with a healthy dose of French playfulness. The illustrations based on spy photos show a car that is emphatically not a conventional sedan or station wagon. The forthcoming C5 appears to be a sedan, hatchback and station wagon all in one. Don’t worry, it won’t be a high-legged sedan like the Chinese C3L. Anyone who has followed Citroën closely in recent years will undoubtedly see that Citroën was inspired by the warmly received CXperience Concept that the brand showed in 2016 in Paris. Just like that study model, the C5 successor seems to get a stretched body with a strongly sloping roofline. With a little imagination, we even perceive influences from the C6 and therefore also from cars such as the XM and even CX. It is certainly not only homages with which Citroën lays out the new C5. Particularly in the design of the headlights and rear lights, the C5 will soon have clear similarities with the smaller C4.
Plug version
It goes without saying that Citroën will park the new C5 on the EMP2 platform, a modular base that serves cars like the C4 Spacetourer, C5 Aircross, the new Berlingo and Peugeot 508. Although the EMP2 platform made its debut under the previous Peugeot 308 and thus dates back to 2013, Stellantis still sees some potential for the time being. Our colleague DS put the new DS 4 on a further development of the platform, of which about seventy percent of the components are completely new. Of course, the C5 will come to the market with PureTech petrol engines, three- and four-cylinder machines that will be around 130 to 180 horsepower. More interesting these days are the plug-in hybrid powertrains on the roll. In any case, you can count on the arrival of a powertrain that is made up of a 180 hp 1.6 PureTech petrol engine and a 110 hp powerful electric motor that is incorporated in the eight-speed automatic transmission. This plug version will probably simply be labeled Hybrid. Count on a more than 12 kWh battery pack that makes it possible to drive around 50 kilometers electrically. You can write hydractive hydraulics on your stomach, although Citroën’s new flagship will undoubtedly be available with Progressive Hydraulic Cushions dampers and the buttery soft Advanced Comfort Seats.
We do not expect the new Citroën C5 on the market until the fourth quarter, but do not be surprised if it is only at the Dutch dealers at the beginning of 2022. By the way, Citroën is not the only manufacturer to give its regular D-segmenter a successor with SUV-like influences. According to reports, Ford will eventually come up with a new Mondeo, with which the brand is following a similar path as Citroën with the C5. That already promises to be an interesting confrontation!
C5 in the Netherlands
Citroën has sold 47,748 C5s in our country. The C5 had its peak year in 2002, when no fewer than 10,394 C5s left the showroom. In 2003 the sales figures of the then available as hatchback and estate C5 with 7,080 units last exceeded 5,000 units. The second generation in particular, which was presented in 2010, no longer scored top marks in the Netherlands. In that year, the C5 2,201 units, which were available as a sedan and Tourer, found an owner and that was immediately his peak year. In 2011 and 2012, 1,522 and 753 copies were sold respectively. In 2013, the numbers dropped to just 317, after which they would no longer climb. From 2014 to 2017, Citroën sold only 240, 148, 50 and 14 C5s in succession in our country. On to the improvement.