Citroen C6 replacement confirmed

Citroen has announced it will introduce replacements for its discontinued C5 and flagship C6 in a bid to renew and replace its global line-up to boost both sales and profits in all markets, including Australia.

Confirming it will renew its aging model line-up and belatedly replace models that have been long absent from its line-up, the French car-maker’s future product boss Richard Meyer says Citroen will reduce the number of its 'core’ models to just eight.

Not included in that number are the firm's vans and light commercial vehicles, or the current C1 city-car that was developed and manufactured under a partnership with Toyota and Peugeot.

According to Citroen’s global product chief, the replacements for both the C5, which is no longer available in Australia, and the C6, which was axed globally in 2012, will "bring freshness to the automotive landscape" and be developed under the brand's new 'comfort' mantra.

It was thought the decline in global sales of traditional sedans would see both models discontinued or replaced with more popular SUVs, but Meyer said that won’t be the case.

"We have the intention to be present in all the segments for a mainstream brand, including large sedan,” he Australian journalists at last week's Paris motor show.

"We are a brand inspired by our customers. We are analysing, we are listening, we want to address the expectations which will be like a sedan, but it won't be a classical sedan,” said Meyer.

It would be easy to presume that both new sedans, which are due for release "after 2020", will be fastbacks or four-door ‘coupes’ – but Meyer says not so fast.

"There are many ways to recreate a new concept. If you look at the recent sedans launched on the market, many are dynamic and sporty but there are also other ways to do [it] and we think that Citroen will choose a different track."

Like the rest of the Citroen range, the new C5 and C6 – which may have been previewed by the 2016 Cxperience concept (pictured) -- will both come with electrified versions.

If the next C5 is based on the PSA Group’s small CMP platform, it would be offered with a pure-electric powertrain as well as a normal petrol and diesel engines.

If, on the other hand, the C5 sits on the larger EMP2 platform, it will come with the car-maker's new 166kW plug-in hybrid powertrain that combines a 147kW 1.6-litre PureTech turbo-petrol engine with an 80kW electric motor and a 13.2KWh lithium-ion battery.

Either way, the common model strategy Citroen is working on will make the two new flagship sedans more attractive to consumers in all its global markets.

That's because, according to Meyer, Citroen will no longer create specific long-wheelbase models for important markets like China, which could see all models grow in size.

"It's very difficult to be profitable if a car only sells in one market,” he said.

“For instance there's a C3 Aircross with a longer wheelbase in China, because there's strong expectations for roominess. For the next generation we'll find another way to manage the expectations,” said the Citroen product boss.

Despite the decline in popularity of people-movers, Meyer refused to confirm the current aging C4 SpaceTourer [nee Picasso] faces the chop.

However, the Citroen exec admits that sales of the five-seat version could suffer with the introduction of the C5 Aircross, which has been designed to combine the practicality of a people-mover with the looks of an SUV.

New Citroen models coming (expected arrival in Australia):
C3 (2018)
C3 Aircross (2019)
C4 (2020)
C4 Cactus (on sale)
C4 SpaceTourer seven-seas (on sale)
C5 (2021)
C5 Aircross (2019)
C6 (2021)