- Lifted saloon revealed
- Battery-electric only in Europe
- Expected to go on sale at the end of 2022
Citroen’s car range is expanding with this: the C4X. It’s essentially a new saloon variant of the C4 and offers something a bit different. It’s coming to Europe, but it’ll also be sold in the Middle East and Africa as Citroen looks to expand its influence beyond Europe.
As always, Citroen’s smashing together conventional segment types to answer the calls of its buyers. ‘It’s the best of a hatchback, the modernity of an SUV and the timelessness of a saloon,’ says Citroen product and strategy director, Laurence Hansen; ‘the question I always get is ‘what is it?’ Well, it’s C4X!
‘X for us means being at the crossroads of different universes. It’s the best of a hatchback, the modernity of an SUV and the timelessness of a saloon.’
The brand’s been keeping a close eye on the development of the Renault Arkana, and wanted to build something that would compete against it. ‘With the Arkana, we saw that it fits part of the new expectations of our customers,’ says Nicholas Rolland – Citroen’s product manager for C4X.
Give me the details, then
From the front, the C4X is indistinguishable from its hatchback counterpart. Almost of the bits you expect from the C4 are present and correct: it runs on the Stellantis group’s CMP platform allowing for petrol, diesel and battery-electric powertrains and comes with Citroen’s Advanced Comfort features like extra squidgy seats and the brand’s Progressive Hydraulic Cushion suspension. Here, though, Citroen has included the brand’s new My Citroen Drive Plus infotainment system first seen on the C5X.
In fact, the entire focus of the car’s design has been from the B-pillar rearward. Hansen instructed Pierre Leclerq, Citroen’s design director, to not change the wheelbase, so the trick was to extend the rear end to allow a larger boot area with a traditional saloon tailgate. The C4X measures 4600mm front to back, 340mm longer than a C4 hatch but 200mm shorter than the plush C5X. The boot is 510 litres – 130 more than the hatchback, even if the boot aperture is smaller. ‘The benefits of a saloon are the weight – this is a little bit lighter than the hatchback – and it’s a way to manage a large volume trunk on a compact length,’ adds Rolland.
CAR had a chance to poke around it in person and it’s usefully larger, with the ability to still fold the seats down (if not completely flat). But the change in roofline has affected headroom for adults, making it tighter to get comfortable for the taller among us.
What engines can you get with it?
Citroen has confirmed the C4X will be available with its 128 and 153bhp PureTech petrol engines as well as the battery-electric e-C4X. But the brand says that only the electric C4X will go on sale in Europe.
It’s the same battery-electric tech as other cars using the CMP platform like the e-C4 and Vauxhall Mokka-E: a 50kWh battery pack, 132bhp and front-wheel drive. Here, Citroen promises a 9.5sec 0-62mph sprint time, a 93mph top speed and a maximum range of 224 miles.
Why has Citroen made a saloon at all?
Citroen’s product planners realised the brand didn’t have a conventional saloon in its range, so decided to tackle such a task while the C4 hatchback was being developed. ‘It was always the aim from the start to have this as well as the regular C4,’ says Rolland, ‘but in order to add another car between the regular C4 and C5X, we need to offer something different.’
But Citroen’s aims are more towards its expansion in the Middle East and Africa with the C4X. Rolland acknowledges that the C4X might not sell enormous numbers in Europe, but ‘with the Middle East and Africa, if you don’t offer a four-door saloon you are not seen as credible on the market.’ He adds that a saloon model doesn’t just mean prestige for certain markets, either: ‘in some countries where the air is really dusty, they absolutely need and want to have a separated trunk from the cabin.’
Citroen C4X: price and release date
CAR understands the new C4X will go on sale in Europe towards the end of 2022. Expect a small price bump over the regular e-C4 hatch.