The C4 Cactus is on its last legs, but of course Citroën has no peace with an empty spot in its line-up. The brand comes with a successor, one that may just be called ‘C4’. A fresh set of spy plates shows that French newcomer in the snow.
The C4 Cactus was launched on the Dutch market in 2014 and was a special model from the outset. Not only was it a strikingly designed crossover, but also one that was developed according to a special philosophy. The C4 Cactus had to be spacious and stubborn, but also relatively cheap. It was therefore not surprising that the car shared its technology with cars like the then current Citroën C3 and Peugeot 208. Initially, the C4 Cactus and the C4 were side by side in the showroom, but now the C4 is out of production and the C4 Cactus is thorough facelifted. A new C4 is not yet available, but it seems that the successor to the C4 Cactus will also fully replace that car.
That replacement of the current C4 Cactus will probably just have to do without a Cactus addition. Citroen already distanced itself from the tough Cactus concept in the facelift carried out on the C4 Cactus in 2018. The extent to which the French applied the airbumps was reduced and the car got a slightly more chic look, partly because things like the plastic roof rails no longer returned. Don’t be surprised if this newcomer gets the Aircross addition to its name. Model name C4 Aircross we know from the sister model of the Peugeot 4008 and Mitsubishi ASX. Citroën currently sells an extended C3 Aircross in China with that name.
The test sample captured in these photos, which is subjected to cold tests in the far north, clearly shows that Citroen is taking a new path. The new Frenchman is a crossover, but one with a strikingly sloping roofline. That is new for Citroën, but not for the European market. In this segment we already know the Hyundai Xceed, a car that probably also compares well with this ‘new C4’.
Under the skin, we do not expect to find the Groupe PSA EMP2 platform, but an extended version of the CMP platform that the group uses for the Peugeot 208 and DS 3 Crossback, among others. Count on PureTech petrol and BlueHDi diesel engines. An electric variant is also in the barrel.
C4 and C4 Cactus sales
Over the years, Citroën has sold 20,965 C4s in our country. We did not include the C4’s Picasso here. In 2007 the car had its peak year. Then 4,464 copies found a Dutch owner. 2005, the first full year in which the car was on the Dutch price lists, was also a good C4 year with 4,364. After 2007, sales figures plummeted. In 2008 the counter was stuck at 1,791 pieces and even slipped in 2009 and 2010 to 935 and 614 copies respectively. The arrival of the second generation increased sales figures to 2,034 units in 2011, but things would not get better after that. In 2012, sales halved to nearly 1,106 units to drop below 1,000 units in 2013; only 623 C4s were sold that year. 2017 was an absolute low with 120 copies sold.
The C4 Cactus has made it to 17,674 copies to date. In the 2014 launch year, just under 2,000 units left the showroom in the Netherlands. In 2015, the car experienced its top year with 7,050 units sold, although sales fell by more than half the year to 3,070 units the following year. In 2017, 2018 and 2019 there was a downward trend with 2,388, 1,735 and 1,332 copies sold respectively. In the first three months of this year, Citroën sold 100 C4’s Cactus.