Citroen working on revolutionary new suspension

Citroen has announced it is working on a pioneering new suspension system to replace its famous hydro-pneumatic suspension.

Speaking to British magazine Autocar, Citroen CEO Linda Jackson said the new system will “prioritise ride comfort without compromising body control”.

The new suspension will be used across the brand and will arrive in 2017, replacing the company's trademark hydro-pneumatic system that’s currently only used in range-topping Citroen C5 hatches and sedans.

Citroen is keeping quiet about how this breakthrough in suspension has been achieved, with Jackson refusing to comment on whether or not the system will feature air suspension, or incorporate self-levelling.

One theory is Citroens of the future might incorporate conventional springs but use damping-on-demand. This technology, believed to be investigated by car-makers like Audi, sees vehicles run completely undamped wheels for the majority of the time to maximise ride comfort, only applying damping for cornering, lane-changing or more dynamic driving.

Whatever the system used, according to Jackson the new suspension will not be employed by the fledgling premium brand DS: “I can guarantee it will be unique to Citroen,” she said. “We have the opportunity to pick new technologies for the future and I am sure this one is best suited to Citroen's core values. I believe I can promise you this will be a Citroen-only system."

Jackson went on to say that engineers had been tasked to recreate the benefits of the firm’s old hydro-pneumatic suspension in a “more modern, more appropriate way”.

In the interview with the British car magazine Jackson went on to say that she wanted to slash the number of body styles the French car-maker makes from today’s 14 to just seven, plus the C1 -- which is made alongside sister models from Toyota and Peugeot.

Jackson also said that by 2020 she hopes to have grown global annual sales by 15 per cent to around 1.6 million cars.