Citröen Metropolis concept car (2010) first pictures

By Chris Chilton

First Official Pictures

19 April 2010 16:34

Citröen is using this week’s 2010 Shanghai motor show to give a sneak view of how a new Citröen limo could look. The press statement says the Metropolis concept ‘pays homage to China’s extraordinary development’ but just how this Citröen forces millions of people to live in poverty with no access to an uncensored media isn’t yet clear.

A massive 5.3m long (longer than a stretched 7-series) but only 1.4m high, the four-door coupe’s styling has echoes of Citröen’s incredible GT supercar concept of 2008 and was developed by Citröen’s Shanghai-based design team. China’s car market is phenomenally lucrative and rich Chinese are hungry for luxury saloons so the Metropolis is likely to resurface as a Chinese-market limo rather than point to the next C6.

A Citröen hybrid limo

To ensure occupants get a level of ride quality worthy of a limo it’s fitted with Hydractive suspension; to keep their conscience clean it’s fitted with a plug-in hybrid drivetrain.

At low speeds it operates in fully electric mode and has up to 95bhp at its disposal. But out of town a 272bhp 2.0-litre V6 chimes in. Combine the two and you’ve got 460bhp and 317lb ft of overtaking muscle available yet the Metropolis emits just 70g/km of CO2. Details are vague, but it sounds like the petrol engine powers the front wheels while the rears are turned by the electric motor.

According to Citröen it’s just a concept at this stage, but expect some of the design cues plus the hybrid technology to make it onto future Citröens.

By Chris Chilton