NEWLY DISCOVERED PICASSO TO BE REVEALED AT THE AUSTRALIAN INTERNATIONAL MOTOR SHOW
A never-seen-before Picasso will revealed at the Australian International Motor Show on 26 October 2006, but this isn’t a product of the 20th century’s most influential artist, although its name is an indication that this Picasso mirror’s the artist’s unique approach to life and the world.
This new Picasso is the C4 Picasso, Citroën’s interpretation of a people mover, and it is set to make Australian car buyers take an entirely fresh look at what they need from a car and how those needs can be met as fuel prices reach new levels.
Also new from Citroën at the Australian International Motor Show are the Citroën C6, the French car maker’s unique interpretation of a luxury car and the Citroën C2 VTS the road-going version of the reigning Junior World Rally Championship-winning car.
“These new models are a very clear indication of the breadth and depth of Citroën’s range of new models,” says Miles Williams, General Manager for Citroën in Australia.
“At one end we have the pocket rocket that has been the dominant force the Junior World Rally Championship since its arrival on the scene last year, at the other end we have the Citroën C6, a unique blend of safety, style and performance and the middle, the Citroën C4 Picasso. This new model offers the space and versatility of a four wheel drive, with the fuel consumption and ease of use of small hatchback. It is loaded with features that make it the ideal family car or business partner. Supporting all of this is the fact that it is based on the award-winning Citroën C4. It will be a new benchmark for family motoring in Australia when it goes on sale early in 2007.”
The Citroën C4 Picasso is clearly from the same styling team that has produced the C4, with its combination of versatility and unique style, while only Citroën’s engineers could have provided such an advanced, safe and economical form of transport.
With its extensive glass area and vast modular cabin, the C4 Picasso becomes the first “visiospace”.
The unique styling, driveability and original features of the C4 Picasso contribute to a comfortable and highly enjoyable ride. This new people mover can carry up to seven people in comfort. All vehicle functions have been designed to ensure an easy, pleasant and relaxed journey. Depending on version, these include:
- A wide-angle panoramic windscreen for outstanding visibility and clarity.
- A front compartment of uncluttered design, with an innovative driving position and the new 6-speed electronic gearbox system.
- Class-beating interior space and boot volume.
- Original seat-folding functions for quick and easy reconfiguration.
- High standards of interior comfort for all passengers, with generous space and outstanding thermal, acoustic and odour-exclusion comfort.
- Remarkable suspension comfort with the pneumatic rear suspension.
- An easier, safer drive, with driving aids that are new to or rarely seen in the compact MPV segment.
Right from the first level of trim, the C4 Picasso boasts new features for on-board comfort, along with driving aids and safety functions. Close attention has also been paid to the perceived quality of the passenger compartment. The prestige interior materials are pleasant to touch; the chrome and gloss black are pleasant on the eye; the paintwork is smooth; and the grain of the dashboard and door panels is exceptionally fine.
Full specifications and prices for the Citroën C4 Picasso will be announced when it goes on sale in Australia in early 2006.
THE CITROËN C6
The Citroën C6 is a car that immediately impresses with its distinctive and timeless styling; Citroën’s imposing flagship is strikingly different. It introduces new levels of limousine ride comfort and refinement for stress-free travelling, the latest advanced technology, exceptional levels of standard equipment and unprecedented safety credentials.
Big, bold yet graceful, the C6 has unmistakeable Citroën styling, drawing inspiration from the French company’s long and illustrious history of building large, luxurious cars. The long bonnet, extended front overhang, large cabin and short rear overhang are characteristic of classic executive Citroëns from the past such as the Citroën DS, SM and CX.
True to that lineage, the C6 has been created to offer a very special and unique look with real road presence, with the resulting design cleverly blending the comfort and class of a limousine with the aerodynamic profile of a coupé.
The C6 looks right from any angle: the distinctive front end, the sleek, toned exterior, the flowing waistline, frameless doors, chrome window surrounds, and eye-catching wheels - all combine to reinforce the imposing look. The back end communicates a real feeling of both strength and style, with the high, arched boot lid framed by a chrome sill, beautifully styled boomerang-shaped lights and a very unusual concave rear window.
Stepping inside, the interior is befitting of an executive car, with its minimalist design and pure, clean lines exemplified by the deep, uncluttered dashboard.
Throughout the cabin, the attention to detail and build quality is clear, as illustrated by the unique half-moon door bins that glide shut, the armrests that are gently illuminated by fibre optic lighting, and the smart, real wood finishing.
And, if cabin space is a true measure of executive comfort, the C6 certainly isn’t found wanting. With one of the longest wheelbases in its class, Citroën has been able to create one of the roomiest cabins around. Appropriately for today’s high stress world, the C6 combines space, ergonomics, comfort and safety to maximum effect, offering the highest standards for occupant well-being.
Living with the C6 is all about refinement, as demonstrated by the cosseting seats, which cradle all occupants in maximum comfort. The front seats are electrically operated, the rear seats are electrically-controlled ‘TGV’ style rear seats that tilt at the waist, in the same way as on the celebrated French high-speed train.
The C6 runs on the Company’s much-admired self-levelling suspension, which is a major contributing factor to the impressive comfort credentials. This latest generation Hydractive suspension uses electronic control of the springing and, for the first time, damping to offer a ‘magic carpet ride’ that constantly adapts to provide the best possible balance of comfort and road-holding.
Just like previous large Citroëns, the new C6 is crammed full of cutting-edge technology, but, unlike some manufacturers, it is not technology for technology’s sake. It all contributes to the C6 experience in a positive and practical manner.
The C6 is the first car in its class to include ‘Head-Up Display’ of driving information as standard. Dual-function Xenon directional headlamps, a speed sensitive rear spoiler, an electric parking brake, and a special soft diffusion system for the air conditioning are all included.
Even by luxury car standards, the new C6 is exceptionally well specified. Owners will benefit from automatic windscreen wipers and headlamps, cruise control with speed limiter, automatic door and boot locking and automatic dual zone air conditioning, all as standard.
Front and rear parking sensors and a high quality JBL Hi-Fi system are standard and Citroen’s advanced NaviDrive telematics and satellite navigation system with voice activation is available as an option.
In fact, buyers of other similarly priced cars will struggle to match the C6’s standard equipment list without picking items from the options list and boosting the final retail price by thousands of dollars.
Citroën’s award-winning commitment to safety has seen Euro NCAP give the C6 a maximum 5-star rating for occupant protection and the first ever maximum 4-star score for pedestrian safety, making it arguably the safest car in the world.
The latter is due largely to the pioneering fitment of an Active Bonnet system. Standard on all C6 models, this innovative system automatically ‘pops’ the bonnet up in the event of a pedestrian impact, to create a cushioning effect between the engine and the bonnet.
ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) and Emergency Braking Assistance (EBA), ESP with traction control, a tyre pressure warning and active head restraints are all standard fitment, as are nine airbags.
Citroën has worked equally hard to ensure that its most coveted car remains with its rightful owner - the C6 is one of just a handful of cars with a double maximum 5-star rating from UK’s renowned Thatcham’s security experts. The Thatcham Motor Industry Repair Research Centre is regarded as the world’s leading centre for testing car security. It rates cars on how easy or hard they are still – ‘theft of’ – and how easy it is to break into a car and steal things from it – theft from. The attack tests include breaking into the vehicle through the boot, bonnet or doors, overcoming steering locks and include trying to start the engine without the original vehicle keys. In both catagories, the Citroen C6 scored five out of five stars.
Laminated side windows are fitted as standard, helping C6 owners to relax in the knowledge that this will thwart most ‘smash and grab’ opportunists. In addition, all models benefit from remote control central locking with deadlocks, an anti-theft alarm and automatic locking when the car is in motion.
The Citroën C6 comes with a single trim and equipment level and it is available with a choice of two Euro IV engines: a 155 kW 3.0 litre V6 petrol powerplant or a new 150 kW Twin Turbo 2.7 litre V6 HDi diesel unit. Both engines are mated to six-speed sequential automatic gearboxes.
THE CITROËN C2 VTS
The Citroën has added the reigning Junior World Rally Champion to its Australian range, the Citroën C2 VTS, providing a new performance edge to its smallest model to produce the ideal city car that is as fast as it is stylish.
Although it is powered by a 1.6 litre engine of the same size as the C2 VTR, the power unit in the VTS has had its power output lifted from 80 to 90 kilowatts and this, combined with lower intermediate gearing, has slashed the zero to 100 kmh time from 10.9 seconds to just 8.3 seconds. Top speed, where permitted by law, if lifted from 195 to 202 kmh. This performance boost comes at only a slight fuel penalty; combined fuel consumption rises from 6.3 to 6.9 litres per 100 km, which means that the C2 VTS is both frugal and fast. With a Euro Four compliant engine, it is also clean.
Unlike other car makers that produce a performance version of their existing models by adding a few sporting items of equipment matched by under the skin mechanical changes, Citroën has produced an entirely separate model to provide the sporting counter part to the Citroën C3. This not only endows the C2 with a much stronger sporting design and performance, it also ensures exclusivity, with nothing but the performance C2 available.
Although it sits on Citroën’s “Platform One”, which is shared with the C3, there are no common body panels and, with its lower roof line and shorter overhangs, along with its dynamically different styling, the Citroën C2 presents a very different character to the C3. From the 16 inch alloy wheels with the extremely low profile 45 series tyres, via the deep drawn bumpers, the Citroën C2 is designed to be a sports model from end to end.
This sporting profile continues inside because while it has a stylish dashboard derived from the Citroën C3, it has its own unique sports seats and interior fittings. The gear knob is polished alloy and door handles are finished in translucent plastic that is colour matched to the cloth trim used in the door panels and the side bolster sections of the standard sports seats. The centre sections of the seats use a special form of cloth similar in design to that used in top end training shoes that allows substantially more air ventilation than normal cloth.
The back seat and load area of the Citroën C2 are unique. For a start access is via a split rear hatch, which means that loading car be done in the tightest parking spaces.
The top section is more than opening window, it’s also pulls the standard rear parcel shelf up and out of the way when it opens. The locking mechanism is electrically operated for safety, security and ease of use.
Citroën has decided that it is better to have comfortable, flexible seat for two in the back of the C2 rather than a compromised three seat bench. So the C2 has two full size seats which can slide backwards and forwards separately to offer either more boot space or more leg room.
But do not be fooled into think that compact exterior dimensions means a cramped interior. When it comes to space utilization, Citroën are the masters. Remarkably, the interior of the C2, despite being smaller in length (3.66m vs. 3.85m) and height (1.46m vs. 1.52m) than the C3 and sitting on a smaller wheelbase (2.31 m vs. 2.46), the interior of the C2 is only slightly small than the C3, a car which offerings a larger than class average interior. For example, front elbow room is just 1 cm smaller in the C2, there is just 2 cm less headroom and even in the rear, elbow and head room are just 2 cm less. A remarkable feat in design.
As would be expected of the top of the range performance model, equipment levels in the Citroën C2 VTS are well above the class benchmark, whether it be safety with ABS brakes, four air bags and a four star rating in the NCAP awards, comfort with power steering, electric windows, electric mirrors, AirCon or convenience with trip computer, height and reach adjustable steering and integrated digital audio system.