Tag Archives: Citroen

News

Why Citroën Is Ending Chrome for Good

Chrome has long been the automotive industry’s jewelry—flashy, shiny, and, for many brands, essential to projecting an upscale image. But Citroën is done with the glitz. With the launch of its new “Chrome Detox” initiative, the French automaker is stripping chrome from its lineup for good, beginning with the freshly updated C4 and C4X. And unlike old-school fad-chasing, this shift has little to do with fashion and everything to do with environmental responsibility.

Chrome: A Shiny Relic of Automotive History

There was a time when no car was complete without a generous helping of chrome. Think tailfins, jukeboxes, and midcentury American boulevards—chrome was king. It became shorthand for prestige, and for decades, carmakers treated it as a visual shortcut to “premium.”

But modern sustainability standards haven’t been kind to the material. Hexavalent chromium, a compound commonly used in chrome plating, is a known carcinogen. The parts themselves aren’t dangerous, but the manufacturing process can expose workers to harmful fumes and consumes significant amounts of energy and resources.

Manufacturers have already been tapering off chrome use, but Stellantis—Citroën’s parent company—made a decisive move in June 2024, announcing a complete long-term phaseout. Citroën is now the first Stellantis brand to bring that pledge into production reality.

What “Chrome Detox” Actually Changes

The facelifted C4 and C4X, arriving in early 2025, are the first models to undergo a cosmetic and ethical cleanse. Out goes the shiny brightwork. In its place:

  • Matte silver trim replacing chrome elements
  • Matte black accents for contrast
  • A more understated, contemporary look that aligns with modern design trends

Citroën says the goal is dual: cut down on environmental impact while meeting the expectations of younger buyers who increasingly value responsible design choices. The brand claims that ditching chrome meaningfully reduces the energy footprint of its production process, even though advanced plating methods can reduce emissions by up to 99.9 percent. Ultimately, it’s about eliminating a resource-intensive process rather than trying to clean it up.

A Moral Stand—or the New Normal?

Citroën is framing Chrome Detox as a “moral decision,” and in a way, it is. Chrome may evoke nostalgia, but in 2025 it’s hard to justify its environmental cost—especially when cleaner alternatives can produce equally appealing design cues.

Will other automakers follow? Most likely. The industry already leans heavily toward dark, satin, and de-glossed finishes, and Citroën’s move could accelerate a broader shift away from plating altogether.

A Future with Less Shine, but More Substance

The refreshed C4 and C4X won’t blind you in a parking lot anymore, but that’s kind of the point. Citroën’s Chrome Detox program positions the brand as a sustainability-focused player willing to give up cosmetic tradition for environmental progress. Whether customers will miss the sparkle is up for debate, but the direction of travel—both for Stellantis and the industry—seems clear.

Cleaner production. Leaner looks. And a future where luxury means less flash and more conscience.

Source: Citroen

News

Citroën Eyes Return to the City-Car Wars With Sub-£15K Urban EV—If Europe Lets It

Citroën may be gearing up for a long-awaited return to the A-segment, and it’s betting on a brand-new “E-car” regulatory category to make it happen. If EU lawmakers approve the proposal—a framework designed to ease costs for ultra-affordable cars—the French brand could launch a spiritual successor to the C1, this time as a sub-£15,000 battery-powered urban runabout. Think 2CV philosophy, not 2CV cosplay.

A New Rulebook for Small Cars

Europe’s cheapest cars have been dying off for years, casualties of ever-tightening safety and emissions rules that push development costs far beyond what buyers of £15k hatchbacks can realistically absorb. The proposed E-car category aims to fix that by loosening certain requirements, reducing manufacturing costs, and finally giving carmakers a financial reason to re-enter a shrinking market segment.

Citroën CEO Xavier Chardon is fully on board. Speaking at the debut of the radical six-seat ELO concept, he confirmed that the new rules could unlock a path to a fresh A-segment EV—slotting below the current C3 and effectively filling the void left by the C1’s demise in 2020.

“We are legitimate as the Citroën brand to enter this segment,” Chardon said. “But for that, we need the European Union to give some space in terms of future regulations.”

Not a Reborn 2CV—But a Modern Answer to Its Mission

Enthusiasts have been buzzing about a potential 2CV revival, especially as competitors like Renault and Fiat successfully leaned on retro design nostalgia. But Chardon shut down the idea of a literal reboot.

“I wouldn’t call it the 2CV project,” he said. “The 2CV is an inspiring model… but not the shape or the design.”

Instead, Citroën wants to revive the spirit of its iconic people’s car—affordable mobility for the masses, engineered with ruthless simplicity. Chardon highlighted the original brief given to Citroën when it was owned by Michelin: build a car cheap enough for every household, tough enough to cross a field with four passengers and a basket of eggs. Today’s equivalent challenge? Deliver a fully electric city car under €15,000 without subsidies.

“That is not a walk in the park,” Chardon admitted.

Why Citroën Wants Back In

Citroën has deep A-segment roots: from the 2CV to the Saxo to the recently departed C1. But the brand’s smallest car today—the 4-meter-long C3—feels positively grown-up compared with the 3.4-meter C1 it replaced. And customers notice.

Chardon argues that Europe still needs genuinely small, genuinely cheap, genuinely usable urban cars—models that fit into tight cities yet remain highway-capable. Citroën’s benchmark remains crystal clear: five seats, practical doors, and real-world flexibility.

“The C1 was quite a successful car,” he said. “It was compact, but you could take it outside the city. We believe it is important to find that logic again at a price point below €15,000.”

Not Just Citroën

Stellantis sibling Peugeot is also exploring a new entry-level EV—effectively a spiritual successor to the Peugeot 108. Other manufacturers, including Dacia and BYD, have signaled interest too, but all are waiting to see how the EU defines the class.

The sticking point is regulation. To build a profitable EV at €15k, something has to give—specifically, the layers of mandatory tech normally baked into modern European cars. Chardon put it bluntly: “If every time the European Union is asking us for more regulations, this is not supporting us.”

What an E-Car Could Be

Don’t expect retro curves. Do expect a simple, purpose-built machine shaped by the same logic that guided the 2CV—transporting people affordably during a time of economic pressure. In the 1940s, that meant farmers, potatoes, and dirt roads. In the 2020s, it means skyrocketing urban costs, EV mandates, and consumers demanding value.

Translate those values into a modern EV, and you get the blueprint for Citroën’s future entry model:

  • ultra-compact dimensions
  • functional, flexible interior
  • minimalistic engineering
  • genuinely low purchase price
  • just enough performance to handle city life and occasional highway trips

In other words, a 21st-century people’s car, but without falling into the retro design trap.

Citroën won’t green-light a new A-segment EV unless the EU formally creates the E-car category. But if regulators sign off, the stage is set for a full-on revival of Europe’s most endangered species: the no-nonsense, low-cost city car.

Not a new 2CV—but something that might just have made old Monsieur Michelin proud.

Source: Autocar

CONCEPT CARS

Citroën ELO Concept First Look: The Tiny House That Wants to Reinvent the Minivan

Citroën has never been shy about zigging where others zag, and with the unveiling of its new ELO concept, the French brand is doubling down on its century-old habit of rethinking what a car should be. Following the wonderfully oddball OLI from 2022, ELO represents Citroën’s next big leap—a rolling laboratory of ideas built to anticipate how we’ll move, work, and live in the near future.

And if Citroën has anything to say about it, the future is compact, cheerful, electric, and unexpectedly spacious.

A Minivan for the New Electric Age

The ELO measures just 4.10 meters long—city-car territory—but inside, it opens up like a modernist studio apartment on wheels. Electric-only packaging gives designers the freedom to push wheels outward, flatten floors, and stretch volume in ways combustion cars simply couldn’t. The result is a “little one that thinks big”: a machine that wants to be your commuter pod, weekend camper, mobile office, and six-seat family shuttle—all at once.

Citroën calls it a “tiny house on wheels,” and for once, the marketing doesn’t feel exaggerated.

REST. PLAY. WORK. Repeat.

Inside the ELO, the usual car/interior distinction dissolves. It’s less cockpit, more living room. Seats slide, fold, rotate, and vanish in ways that make current minivans look downright rigid.

  • Everyday setup: four seats, with the driver sitting centrally—McLaren F1 style—for maximum forward visibility under a panoramic 180-degree windshield.
  • Conversation mode: the driver’s seat swivels around to face the rear passengers, turning the cabin into a rolling lounge.
  • People-mover mode: two additional seats unfold from hidden compartments, expanding capacity to six.
  • Adventure mode: the entire interior converts into a sleeping space for two—think micro camper van without the bulk.
  • Entertainment mode: the cabin transforms into a home-cinema setup, reinforced with onboard power solutions.

It’s modularity pushed to the point of playfulness, and in a market where every interior is starting to feel like a tablet with seats, that’s refreshingly human.

The Cheerful Personality Missing in EVs Today

Where many electric concepts lean into sterile minimalism, the ELO embraces “joie de vivre.” Bright colors, expressive surfaces, and a kind of toy-like friendliness define the exterior. Citroën wants this thing to feel accessible and optimistic—a counterpoint to the cold futurism dominating the EV landscape.

This isn’t a car that takes itself too seriously. And that’s a good thing.

Co-Created with the Outdoors Experts

To build ELO, Citroën tapped partners who understand real-world lifestyles:

  • Decathlon contributed expertise from its outdoor gear team, helping inspire functional, durable, sustainable interior materials and clever onboard storage.
  • Goodyear developed new “smart” outdoor-ready tires capable of adapting to the car’s varied use cases—urban commuting one moment, dirt-track detours the next.

The result is a concept that feels grounded rather than purely theoretical. You can imagine using this thing tomorrow, not in some distant utopian cityscape.

A Signal of Where Citroën Wants to Go

Xavier Chardon, Citroën’s brand chief, frames ELO as a thesis statement: bold, accessible, responsible, and designed around well-being rather than horsepower arms races. The company is entering Formula E, refreshing its lineup at high speed, and clearly wants to reassert itself as Europe’s friendly disruptor.

Design boss Pierre Leclercq puts it bluntly: design must combine style and function—and ELO is the purest expression of that philosophy. Citroën’s designers had “fun,” and it shows.

So What Exactly Is ELO?

A hint at the next Berlingo? A preview of a future city camper? Or simply a manifesto for how Citroën believes electric packaging should be used?

Maybe ELO is all of these. But most importantly, it’s a reminder of something the industry sometimes forgets: cars can be clever. They can be playful. They can make life easier instead of more complicated.

Whether ELO becomes a production model or stays a showpiece, Citroën’s message is clear: the future of mobility isn’t just about range and charging speeds. It’s about giving people back their time, space, and freedom.

And if that future looks anything like ELO, it might actually be fun.

Source: Stellantis