\u201cRight from the start, the plan for the new C4 envisaged a car to outperform its class, an exceptional model in every way. For the styling, we focused on official brand values like quality, comfort and character\u201d. That\u2019s how Citro\u00ebn\u2019s Director of Design, Jean Pierre Plou\u00e9 starts his report to Auto & Design.<\/p>\n
When they were offered the chance to design a replacement for the honest but dull Xara with something truly original, the Citro\u00ebn team immediately sought a look to match the package for the new model. Initially, the plan was to create a single silhouette for both the three and the five-door versions.<\/p>\n
However, as Plou\u00e9 explains, \u201cthe first design was so distinctive that we realised it wouldn\u2019t suit the saloon. So we took a fortnight out to invent a new look for the 5-door, which involved redesigning the tail\u201d.<\/p>\n
From then on, design work proceeded at a pace Plou\u00e9 unhesitatingly describes as \u201cextraordinary\u201d. Obviously, it cost a lot more to develop two completely different body designs. However, the engineers and designers showed the management that the two roofs were actually very similar and that there was a way to arrange the same body panels into two very different looks.<\/p>\n
Most of the differences can be seen on the tail, whereas the distinctive design of the nose with its double row of parallel chrome bars that rise at the centre of the radiator grille to form Citro\u00ebn\u2019s classic double chevron, is shared by both versions.
\nJean-Pierre Plou\u00e9 and his designers are visibly delighted with their creation and with the way the Citro\u00ebn management allowed them to achieve it. \u201cWith the C4 we have a tautly roofed three-door with a distinctive look and something of the Airdream prototype and the C2 about it. The five-door is more \u201cconvivial\u201d along C3, Pluriel or Picasso lines\u201d.<\/p>\n
The article continues in Auto & Design no. 149<\/strong><\/small><\/p>\n<\/div>[images picture_size=”fixed” hover_type=”none” autoplay=”no” columns=”5″ column_spacing=”13″ scroll_items=”” show_nav=”yes” mouse_scroll=”no” border=”yes” lightbox=”yes” class=”” id=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/12\/1512200403_Citroen_C4-300×154.jpg” alt=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/12\/1512200401_Citroen_C4-300×154.jpg” alt=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/12\/1512200402_Citroen_C4-300×198.jpg” alt=””][\/images]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [images picture_size=”fixed” hover_type=”none” autoplay=”no” columns=”5″ column_spacing=”13″ scroll_items=”” show_nav=”yes” mouse_scroll=”no” border=”yes” lightbox=”yes” class=”” id=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/12\/1512200403_Citroen_C4-300×154.jpg” alt=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/12\/1512200401_Citroen_C4-300×154.jpg” alt=””][image link=”” linktarget=”_self” image=”http:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/12\/1512200402_Citroen_C4-300×198.jpg” alt=””][\/images]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","category-design-story-en"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-01 21:06:16","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3314\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/autodesignmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}