CITROEN’S C4 PIONEERS THE COMPANY’S NEW LOOK
17 February 2005 - Citroën UK Ltd

High levels of specification as standard, the new styling face of Citroen and reduced prices from those announced at its UK launch at the end of 2004, makes the C4 Hatchback and Coupe range potentially an attractive proposition for private and fleet new car buyers.

Citroen has a reputation for tactical pricing offers and regard themselves as being the ‘value for money’ champions in the UK market.

Since its launch in November C4, prices have already been reduced with tactical sales offers being launched in January. These will continue through until the end of March, the peak selling month for the new registration plate.

The range started off at £11,095 for petrol versions and all these variants have dropped in price by £1,100. The diesel models previously started at £12,695 and reductions of £1,600 or £1,700, depending on derivative, means that the lowest price C4 diesel now costs just £10,995.

The C4 sells in the medium sized passenger car segment against some really tough competition including the new Ford Focus, the very good Vauxhall Astra, the highly rated but expensive VW Golf, the popular Peugeot 307 and the distinctive Renault Megane.

As Citroen expect about two thirds of UK sales for the C4 to be taken up by business and fleet customers, price sensitivity is the key to this cars success although it has much more going for it than that. In truth it is a very good vehicle, superbly equipped, very versatile and cost effective.

Citroen expect to sell in the region of 20,000 of these cars in the UK this year and around 45 per cent of them will have diesel power with the option of 1.6 or 2.0-litre Peugeot Citroen partnership HDI high power, low emission engines. There are no less than twenty-two different models and four trim levels. For petrol customers there is the choice of 1.4, 1.6 and 2.0-litre engines. Automatic transmission options are only available for 1.6 and 2.0-litre petrol models.

My test car was C4 2.0HDi Exclusive 5-door hatchback that initially would have cost me £18,395. But until the end of March the price is £16,795 and I suspect you might even get a bit more knocked off that figure because it is a tough market out there.

This is a very safe car with a 5-star Euro NCAP rating for front and side impacts, maximum 3-star rating for pedestrian safety and 4-stars for child safety. It is good to see that designers are now starting to come up with fresh looks for their products whilst meeting the latest safety requirements. Hopefully we have gone past the stage where all these medium sector cars end up looking the same. The French in particular have done a good job coming up with safe distinctive designs for the Peugeot 307 and 407, this C4 and the revised C5 and Renault of course with the Megane. Without exception everybody who asked me about the C4 during my test period living with the car liked the design and looks a lot.

The designers have made the interior distinctive so it doesn’t look as though it has come out of the same mould as everything else. The full width facia has a convex shape, which allows plenty of space in front of the passengers. The digital instruments are positioned centrally on top of this facia in an elongated convex shaped pod and they are very easy to read. The centre facia and console houses the heating and sound system controls and these too are easy to see and large enough to use with ease. The clever bit is that duplicate controls are mounted centrally within the steering wheel. But this centre area remains stationary and the wheel rotates around it. A very clever and very effective feature.

The front of the C4 is pretty roomy and very comfortable. The deeply sculptured rear seat backs make the best use of the rear space but legroom is on the tight side for adults. The folding rear seats and large load area with its wide and high opening tailgate gives plenty of load carrying space and there are hidden storage compartments in this area as well. The overall user-friendly ‘packaging’ offered by the C4 is probably the best in its sector.

The C4 is built on a modified platform used for the Peugeot 307 range and it also uses one of the same engine and transmission options from the PSA family. My test car had their excellent 2.0-litre HDI, direct injection common rail diesel engine that meets the latest Euro IV emission regulations. Drive to the front wheels is through a six-speed transmission.

This engine and transmission is widely used by Peugeot and Citroen so I will not dwell on its very good performance, responsiveness and low noise characteristics. Top speed is 129mph, 0-62mph in 9.7 seconds and an average fuel consumption of 52.3mpg.

The C4 Exclusive comes with an electronic stability-handling programme with traction control and anti-lock braking. The suspension with front and rear anti-roll bars gives the car a smooth and flat ride with the fine tuning set for ‘comfort’ so the noise intrusion from the tyres is very low. Cut and thrust drivers will probably feel a little detached from their car as feedback is dulled due to the ‘comfort’ set up. However for the vast majority of us this is a comfortable, easy to drive and responsive car.

There really were no down sides to this vehicle. One bit of window surround trim did partially detach itself during a motorway run but it clipped back into place and stayed there. Citroen do seem to have problems with quality control and my recent C5 test car was taken back to Citroen because the engine cooling fan ran continuously even with the engine switched off so I had to disconnect the battery every time I parked the car. If Citroen can get their quality control issues sorted then with their technology, styling and pricing structure they would be more successful.

MILESTONES. Citroen C4 2.0HDi Exclusive 5-Door Hatchback. Price, until the end of March, £16,795. Engine, 2.0-litre common rail, direct injection turbocharged diesel, 138bhp, 236lb ft of torque. Performance, 129mph, 0-62mph 9.7seconds. Fuel economy 52.3mpg, CO2 142g/km. RFL Group A £115 per annum. Insurance group, 10A. How good? Distinctive styling inside and out and not at the expense of safety or comfort. Clever design for the facia panel and instrument layout, comfortable ride, good engine performance with class leading fuel economy. How bad? Technically nothing but Citroen’s policy of launching a car and then reducing the price a few weeks later does little for longer-term brand values.

Miles Better News Agency

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