Essential technologies also reduce the car’s environmental impact, through efficient, downsized engines — the base engine is a 1.0-liter three-cylinder turbocharged unit — and an incredibly low 965kg curb weight.
The goal was to “study everything, even the impossible,” said Monferrini, quoting Pierre Boulanger, father of the 2CV. “It’s not made for 200km/hr cruises; it doesn’t have the most power of its competitors. Its been optimized with one objective — a lighter car.”
The C4 Cactus’s 200kg weight savings over other sedans in the segment leads to lower fuel consumption and improved efficiency – to the tune of 91mpg and 82g/km of CO2.
This is achieved through a new platform, an aluminum hood and shocks, lightweight seat frame construction (which shaves 6kg in the rear seat alone) and pop-out rear windows, which negate the need for a wind-down mechanism for an 11kg savings. The thermal protection glass roof also saves weight while lowering the vehicle’s overall height for a better center of gravity and aesthetic quality.
With the C4 Cactus, Citroen is also looking toward other areas to enhance the user experience. The automaker will offer personalized purchasing schemes, inspired by mobile phone package and internet broadband, where users only pay for the time they use the car.
Specifically adapted for those who drive less, users would pay a set fee per km in certain counties. “We will no longer consume the car as we have in the past,” says Monferrini. “The promise is the offer of a package that is ideally suited to the customer.”
The company is also changing the way it will interact with consumers as well, through a new system called Citroen Advisor. Used much in the same way as Trip Advisor, where users post reviews of hotels and restaurants, Citroen Advisor will effectively put clients at the center of the company’s strategy to progress the brand through direct interaction.
Citroen has always had answers for a generation, and the C4 Cactus is no different. It aims to change the way people consume the automobile though the company’s transparent approach and the implementation of new technology.
As the first all-new model in the reinvigorated C-line, the C4 Cactus shows Citroen knows where it’s going, and undeniably leaves its imprint on the automotive industry yet again.
