For the four decades since Peugeot S.A.’s purchase of Citroën, these marques have performed an impressive work maintaining each one’s own identity, which earns huge importance for a group that takes both to every market where it works. The latest info about the PSA Group’s strategies was that Peugeot would receive a sophisticated status, staying below the DS line but above the upcoming Citroëns. Releases such as this minivan, however, fortunately don’t make that statement not even a little bit easier to believe.
It’s interesting to observe that Citroën’s focus has always been the creativity, rather than luxury, sportiness or off-road as most of the others. That’s what frees this automaker to compete in almost every existing category, since superminis to commercial vehicles and high-end sedans; its tradition doesn’t come from what cars it builds but how they are built. Even though these cars’ innovations weren’t always big, almost every Citroën featured at least a small item that made it different from the competitors, such as C3 Pluriel’s removable parts or XM’s hydropneumatic suspension. However, the last two decades have seen an effort on the styling, rather than mechanical innovations. C3’s double arches, Xsara Picasso’s bubble-like shape and three-door C4 and C6’s abrupt rear cuts are only some examples of a design language whose boldness could be compared to Fiat’s in the 1990s – also at the bad reception some of these cars unfortunately ended having, despite being good products. Actually, the Italian automaker’s biggest fans may also claim that the new C4 Picasso shares some of the spirit which brought the first Multipla’s divided headlights. Style opinions aside, the truth is the French minivan has taken the best out of PSA’s brand new EMP2 platform.
This structure gave the car a big contribution to express Citroën’s current conceptual phase, which has abandoned the design extravagances in favor of a “high-tech look”, with more attention to the details. The front clearly takes attention for the divided headlights, whose concept differs from the latest Jeep Cherokee’s not only by the light schemes as also because Picasso’s have visually-connected shapes. It takes time to get used to both, but this is exactly what the brands were looking for. The side sections show a more compact variation of the old Picasso’s design, emphasizing the car’s height instead of length, but also featuring an unmistakable C shape in chrome around the windows. Picasso improves the original concept of very large glass not only with the big windows as with an increased windshield, that merges into the panoramic sunroof like on lots of today’s cars. The rear might not have that many innovative items, but achieved a solid design, with big LED tail lights whose internal scheme was inspired on Citroën’s concept cars such as Revolte, Survolt and Tubik and brings a three-dimensional effect. When it comes to numbers, the length was decreased in 2.75 inches, while the weight lost around 300 pounds. The glass area measures around 57 square feet, which comes in handy at cold weather.
Opening this car’s doors reveals another world of great surprises. The enormous amount of natural light shows a set of five anatomically-improved seats, which can be upgraded with massage equipment and special headrests – the front passenger can stretch its legs, while the second row brings three individual seats with the same size. The black color can contrast with Ardoise or Champagne, in a room filled with soft-touch materials and plenty of attention to details such as satin-finish chrome, laser-engraved and glossy-black inserts. There will be several coating options in material and color and a high-tech central console. Besides of the 7” touchscreen (which can be upgraded for a 12” with HD definition) for Citroën Multicity Connect, there are lots of storage spaces including a particular one with USB port and 220V socket and one of the parking-assistance systems which makes the driver control only the pedals. Speaking of electronic safety systems, the car’s features include 360° monitoring of blind spots made by external cameras, active cruise control and special seatbelts, which vibrate at unnoticed lane changes and get tighter in case of an imminent accident. The powertrain’s biggest highlights are the diesel engines, which can be HDi 90, e-HDi 90 or 115 or the new Blue HDi 150, which has even more technologies to make Picasso the efficiency leader in its category.
