Citroen C4 Cactus revealed in production guise ahead of Geneva Motor Show Debut

The Citroen C4 Cactus (pictured) revealed in production spec

The Citroen C4 Cactus could probably not have been conceived by anyone other than the French, and the concept we saw at Frankfurt last year was certainly original. Now, Citroen are putting the C4 Cactus in to production and, surprisingly, not a huge amount has changed from the concept.

That means the C4 Cactus – with a wheelbase the same as a C4 but with a footprint more the size of a supermini – weighs in at just 980kg, so even though its engines are small and frugal it will have acceptable performance.

Those engines are a 1.0 litre VTi 3-cylinder with 81bhp, the 108bhp e-THP, a 91bhp eHDI plus a 99bhp Blue HDI which manages to produce just 82g/km and economy of 91mpg. All come with a manual ‘box but you will be able to opt for Citroen’s automated manual instead.

Citroen say the Cactus C4 is about ‘More Design’, and it’s hard to argue against that however daft a statement it is.

With smooth surfaces, flowing lines, floating quarter lights and roof, daytime running lights built in to the Airbump, big glazed roof and roofbars, the C4 Cactus does look original.

As for the Airbumps, they are fitted to the side of the Cactus and the bumpers – in choice of Black, Grey, Dune & Chocolate – and are made of thermoplastic polyurethane filled with air and will pop back in to shape if knocked, saving damage to the bodywork and repair cost.

Inside, the C4 Cactus is properly de-cluttered with a low dashboard (the airbags move up to the roof) and a fully digital interface removing the need for buttons and a digital screen replacing traditional instruments.

The seats are sofa-like and passengers in the back have as much room to sprawl as those in a C4 and there are lots of simple touches like luggage strap door handles and a storage compartment on top of the dashboard to make the Cactus feel easy to live with, and trim in a choice of Stone Grey, Purple Highlight & Habana Highlight.

Life is also made easier with sensible driving aids on offer including Park Assist, reversing camera, Hill Start, Cornering Lights and even Citroen eTouch which offers emergency call and assistance.

Citroen is also planning ‘easy-own’ options, with either flat-rate monthly payments or a mileage based system that will include everything but fuel.

The new Citroen C4 Cactus will debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month before going on sale. Citroen hasn’t revealed prices yet, but if the focus is on ownership costs we’d expect them to be competitive.

By Cars UK