Citroen News

The wide-eyed French wonder has a hybrid HDi drivetrain from which Citroen claims fuel consumption of just 3.4L/100km.As well as saving fuel, the concept aims to cutback on resources used in its construction. The cabin is made up of just over 200 parts, which Citroen says is about half the usual number. Peugeot's sleek 308RCZ concept gives a big nod towards a future body style for the 308 family.The ultra-light 2+2 coupe uses aluminium, polycarbonate windows and carbon-fibre body parts and is powered by a 160kW 1.6-litre twin-scroll turbo jointly developed by PSA Peugeot Citroen and BMW.Mitsubishi will unveil its Concept-cX compact SUV at the Frankfurt Motor Show. Concept-cX uses interior trim materials made from bamboo and other plant-based resins.The concept is powered by a new high-output, high-efficiency 1.8-litre diesel engine, featuring a variable geometry turbocharger for optimum boost control and a diesel oxidation catalyst with diesel particulate filter, and Mitsubishi's new twin-clutch sport-shift transmission which will be a key element in the Lancer Evo X.GM will show environmentally-conscious concepts at Frankfurt, including the HydroGen4 fuel-cell car, the Volt all-electric car and further adaptions of its EcoFlex technology.The HydroGen4 produces an electrical output of up to 93kW backed by a 73kW electric motor.GM claims it can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 12 seconds and has a top speed of about 160km/h. It will also show off its E-Flex strategy, which combines various fuel-efficient propulsion systems in the same vehicle shape and design to suit local demands, in an Opel Corsa small car.Of the production cars being launched at the show, the Mini Clubman wagon is likely to rate highly. The five-door model has double rear doors and a suicide door on the driver's side. The suicide door, which is rear-hinged, is designed to allow passengers easier access to the back.Renault will also show a mini wagon with its Clio Sport Tourer, due to go on sale in Europe early next year.Halfway between concept and reality is the 2008 World Rally Car concept from Subaru.It is both a pointer to what the next WRC will be like and an insight into how the new WRX STI, which will go on sale in Australia early next year, will look. 

The famed DS was one, the 2CV another and the front-wheel-drive 1934 Traction Avant was something of an outstanding revelation in both looks and handling.Next month it will continue to entrench its reputation as a leading designer by unveiling the head-turning four-seater convertible concept called the C5 Airscape at the Frankfurt Motor Show.Citroen says the Airscape is effectively the spiritual successor to the DS Decapotable convertible that was built from 1958-73.Look closely, though, and you will see the new C5 sedan in the car's profile, and the front and rear design treatment.The concept has a carbon-fibre folding roof and striking styling and is crammed with innovative technology. It has a high waistline, ribbed panels, C6-style concave rear window and sleek, aerodynamic profile.The car is further enhanced by the 19-inch alloys, large air-intakes, twin chrome exhausts and long incisive headlights.The automatic folding roof has an integrated sunroof and textile lining and is designed to look and feel like a conventional canvas roof.Inside there is a sumptuous interior of dark-brown leather and chrome. The dashboard echoes modern-day Citroens and the fixed-centre steering wheel boss is taken from the C4.Citroen has also made sure the car not only looks good but is also a showcase for innovation.Fuel economy is managed by an UrbanHybrid system that includes a reversible alternator-starter and super capacitors.This system allows on-board equipment, such as the airconditioning and stereo, to be powered by energy recovered during braking and deceleration. Engine torque can be temporarily boosted when required.The UrbanHybrid system reduces CO2 emissions by 24g/km on the combined cycle. It also has stop-start technology that switches the engine off when the car is stationary, before starting it again once the accelerator is pressed.The efficient 155kW/440Nm 2.7-litre HDi V6 engine can run on bio-diesel.The engine is shared with other Citroen and Peugeot models as well as the Land Rover Discovery.In the Airscape the turbodiesel has a particulate filter, further minimising any environmental effect.The Airscape also has a traction control system called Snow Motion, which Citroen says delivers performance similar to that of a four-wheel-drive car. 

Cars will inevitably be taxed according to their exhaust emission ratings, the Australian motor industry has conceded.Conservationists are calling on South Australia to take the lead in slapping a tax on vehicles where the fee rises according to the amount of emissions. The tax would be at new-sale time or on annual registration renewals.The Motor Trade Association acknowledged the growing interest in vehicles that are less harmful to the environment.“At some point, governments will tax vehicles on their emissions and greenhouse gas,” MTA state executive director John Chapman told The Advertiser .“We are not advocating that, but it will come.”Mr Chapman said the swing to smaller cars and the flattening off of large-car sales was due to motorists' concern about fuel economy.“People are more environmentally aware and wanting to know how we can reduce the (environmental) footprint and what they can do,” he said.Mr Chapman said motor vehicles were only a partial contributor to greenhouse gases “but our industry needs to be concerned about these issues.”Some countries already have vehicle taxes depending on each model's carbon dioxide emissions.In Australia, each new car must carry a sticker on the windscreen showing its officially-rated fuel consumption in litres/100km and its “greenhouse” C02 emissions in grams/km. The latter figure determines levels of taxing overseas.The Conservation Council in SA wants a similar system here.“It has to be user pays,” said council chief executive Julie Pettet. “If you are responsible for pollution you are going to have to pay.”Ms Pettet said such taxing should not be just punitive but also reward those doing the right thing such as using public transport. She added the taxes should be a federal activity.   Top-rated Toyota Prius: 1.5-litre petrol and electric (4.4litre/100km)Fiat Punto: 1.4-litre petrol (5.7)Peugeot 207CC: 1.6-litre petrol (5.8)Citroen C3: 1.6-litre petrol (6.2)Mercedes-Benz A150: 1.5-litre petrol (6.7)Holden Astra: 1.8-litre petrol (7.4)Honda Civic: 1.8litre petrol (6.9) 

Being top of the class is just as important for carmakers as it is for school students.Which is why the failure of the Honda Civic hybrid and Skoda Fabia to score the maximum five-star rating in the latest European New Car Assessment Program results may not please their parents.Both small cars achieved a four-star rating out of a possible five, which is above average but not excellent.By comparison, there are plenty of other five-star small cars available, including the latest Peugeot 207, Toyota Corolla, Holden Astra, Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Citroen C4 and Fiat Punto.For the Civic and Fabia, the devil is in the detail.The Fabia lost a point for containing dangerous structures in the dashboard, which presented an injury risk to adult occupants.It also lost two points for child protection and scored two stars in the ever under-performing pedestrian protection category.The Civic hybrid lost a point for adult protection because the driver's airbag did not prevent the dummy's head from connecting with the steering wheel.However, it performed far better for child protection and pedestrian protection.The Civic hybrid is the second environmentally concerned car tested by Euro NCAP.The first was the Toyota Prius in 2004, which managed a five-star score for adult occupant protection. The latest results have been eagerly anticipated because European fleet buyers and consumers are increasingly seeking vehicles with lower CO2 emissions and higher safety scores, to benefit from the growing use of tax incentives.Euro NCAP's secretary-general, Adrian Hobbs, says consumers may ask themselves whether high safety scores and a hybrid powertrain can go hand in hand.“Honda and Toyota have shown they are rising to the challenge in their efforts to meet concerns about safety and global warming,” he says. “It is now up to other manufacturers to follow in their footsteps.”The front-impact test is conducted at 64km/h into an offset deformable barrier, the side-impact test at 50km/h, the pole test 29km/h and the pedestrian tests 40km/h.

In the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) results this week, the Toyota Aurion, Toyota Camry and Holden Commodore all received a four-star safety rating, adding to the previously tested four-star performers, the Ford Falcon and Mitsubishi 380.NRMA Motoring and Services Vehicle Safety Expert, Jack Haley says most of these cars failed to reach a top rating because of the lack of side curtain airbags.The Toyota Aurion is the only car equipped with side head protection as standard, but Haley says Toyota chose not to proceed with an optional pole test. This meant they were unable to score five stars in the overall testing. The testing involved the top-selling version of each model and Haley says the other large cars offered curtain airbags as an option, but not as a standard feature in the models tested.“Obviously our aim is to get all cars up to a five-star safety rating,” Haley says. “We'd like to see curtain airbags in all vehicles and we would also like to see stability control as standard.”The Toyota Aurion and Holden Commodore have stability control as standard, but it is only an option in various other family cars. But Haley says stability control didn't contribute to the ANCAP testing, as the results show how a car performs in a crash, whereas stability control is an active accident-prevention device.Each car underwent three main areas of testing under ANCAP.They included frontal, side impact and pedestrian tests.Many Japanese and European cars have already received a five-star rating in the European version of testing, known as the EuroNCAP.They include the Toyota Corolla, Peugeot 207, Ford Focus XR5, Land Rover Freelander 2, Citroen Picasso, Mitsubishi Outlander, Volvo C30, VW Passat and Mini Cooper.Most of these models were tested as top-of-the-range, whereas in Australia the extra airbags are optional on some models. ANCAP advises motorists to buy vehicles with a full six-airbag package, including side head protection and electronic stability control.The Toyota Tarago and Mitsubishi Triton also scored a four-star rating in the recent testing, an improvement for the Triton, which is up from a previously low two-star rating.The Hyundai Accent scored three stars and the Mitsubishi Express van scored poorly with just one star. STAR RATINGS  Source: ANCAP 2007 

With fuel prices again marching upwards, buyers are looking for the most fuel-efficient cars and car companies are turning to the baby brigade to meet the growing demand.Toyota, Citroen, Peugeot, Fiat and Suzuki are all looking at options from their international model range with engines as small as 1.0-litre.Toyota chairman emeritus John Conomos wants a smaller model than its current baby, the Yaris, and an SUV to sit under the RAV4.The hot favourite for the smallest player in the Toyota garage is the Aygo, a 1.0-litre model available as a three or five-door hatch built in the Czech Republic as a joint venture with Citroen and Peugeot.The three companies market almost identical versions of the car, Toyota badging it the Aygo, Citroen the C1 and Peugeot the 107.Peugeot Australia is looking closely at the 107 but spokesman Mathew McCauley says plans are far from confirmed.“We originally felt we had the area covered when the 206 and 207 were going to be sold side by side,” McCauley says. “Now that we can't get the 206 in right-hand-drive we have to look at a different strategy and the 107 is certainly part of that planning.”While McCauley wouldn't speculate on when the 107 may be available in Australia, any decision to bring the car to these shores will be made quickly and it could be on sale before the end of the year.Citroen is far more reticent about the chances of the C1 making it to Australia.“The twin issues with considering the C1 for Australia are availability and price,” Citroen importer Ateco Automotive spokesman Edward Rowe says.“We already have the C2, C3 and C3 Pluriel, which are all essentially in the same class but appeal to different types of buyers.”Fiat, another Ateco brand, will definitely be offering its revival of the classic 500 Bambino, which will launch in Europe in July and be on sale in Australia next March.“The Fiat 500 will be launched here with both a petrol and diesel option,” Rowe says.While Rowe denies there are any firm plans for a hot Arbath performance derivative of the Fiat, European sources suggest it is a certainty with a 110kW 1.4-litre turbo powerplant upgrading the famous vehicle.Also in the mix is the imminent arrival of a yet-to-be-named Chinese-manufactured model, which will attack the bottom end of the market in both size and price.“That will be a definite area in which the Chinese models will have an influence,” Rowe says. Ateco is expected to lead the way in landing Chinese-manufactured cars in the Australian market by next year.Toyota's dilemma is that its original small cars have either grown to outsize their original concept or disappeared entirely from the market as in the case of the Daihatsu Sirion.Both the Yaris — nee Echo — and RAV4 have grown markedly since their original model launches. RAV4 started as a 2.0-litre three-door and soon its five-door body will get a 3.5-litre V6 engine.Conomos says a small SUV that equated to the size of the original RAV4 was under development in Japan. “A 2.0-litre SUV would be ideal for us because that segment of the market is growing,” he says.Conomos indicates a car smaller than the Yaris would be welcome, but says buyers in the light-car segment are extremely price sensitive. “It would be difficult for a Japanese car to compete on price in that segment,” he says.“We also have to ensure that any Toyota car coming into Australia meets our quality, reliability, durability and equipment criteria.”If the Aygo was introduced it would sell from about $12,000.Suzuki, meanwhile is considering bringing its baby Splash to Australia. It has both 1.0-litre and 1.3-litre petrol engines and a 1.3-litre diesel.

Those hanging out to buy Citroen's small four-wheel-drive, the C-Crosser, have a long wait on their hands.Citroen's Australian distributor, Sydney-based Ateco, has ruled out the C-Crosser coming here until late next year.Ateco has been forced to play the waiting game because the right powertrain and specification choices for Australia won't be available until more than a year after the launch of the manual version.The C-Crosser goes on sale in Europe in July in manual diesel form and automatic gearboxes, of which there will be a gluttony of choice, will not come on stream until the third quarter of 2008.The diesel will have the EGS robotised manual, the 2.4-litre Mitsubishi-sourced engine will have a CVT transmission and the Hyundai-sourced V6 engine will have a conventional automatic.“From our point of view, until the C-Crosser has a self-shifting gearbox it's not correct for this market and therefore we will wait until it arrives,” Citroen Australia public relations officer Edward Rowe said.Following the launch of the 7-seater C4 Picasso people mover last week, Citroen expects to have its next diesel offering in the C3 before the end of the year.It is likely to be the engine similar to the 1.6-litre HDi unit that is currently in the larger C4 hatch.A diesel engine is also confirmed to arrive early next year for the hugely successful Berlingo van which will be a 1.9-litre normally aspirated oil-burner rather than a 2-litre HDi which is also available.Citroen have all but ruled out bringing in the recently launched 5-seat version of the Picasso which is available from the start of next year.But they will go ahead with the exercise of homologating the car to cover themselves in case of a shift in market trends.Citroen Australia general manager Miles Williams indicated the pricing would be too close to the 7-seat Picasso.“We've agreed we won't order the car (5-seater),” Williams said.“I think we all know the five-seater market (people mover) is a pretty tough business.”

New car styling is moving quickly towards high-waisted doors and huge side roof pillars specifically to provide more side impact protection.And there is also allowance being made for the differing heights of cars and four-wheel drives with the latter featuring less aggressive and lower frontal areas to minimise side impact "intrusion" in a collision with a smaller passenger car.But the real challenge is to make a car that minimises injury to pedestrians in the awful event of an impact.It seems an almost insurmountable problem considering the size, weight and speed of the "objects" involved.But car manufacturers and designers are rising to the challenge.Citroen's new C4 is an example of the way things are going.It's a small/medium car and the front has been designed as much for aesthetics as for pedestrian safety.The front bumper area is rounded off and extends quite low to spread any impact force with a pedestrian's leg over a larger area.The C4's leading edge is all of relatively soft plastic with yielding structures beneath.The bonnet is thin aluminium sheet and engine components, "hard parts" are well down in the engine bay and away from danger.The bonnet is raked from the front up to the windscreen which is raked at almost the same angle as the bonnet once again to minimise blunt impact with a pedestrian.The front mudguards are in soft plastic.The mirrors have rounded leading edges and fold when hit. The only glass at the front of the car is the windscreen. Headlights and all brightwork the badges and grille are plastic.There is no protruding radio aerial and even the door handles are recessed.Ford has taken matters a little further with a spring loaded bonnet on a specially developed Focus model.The bonnet springs up about 20cm acting as a "pillow" in the event of a pedestrian collision. The system has not been broadly adopted on production cars at this stage but other elements of pedestrian safety adorn many other cars.Sophisticated computers will soon be used to help either avoid a pedestrian collision or to adjust parts of the car instantaneously to minimise harm.Pedestrian airbags are a possibility in the future.In the meantime, it would pay dividends to invest in better education programs for pedestrians to stop some of the suicidal behaviour that takes place.Disobeying red lights, jaywalking, walking on to the road from between parked cars or from behind vans, trucks and buses, walking onto the road when intoxicated, simply not paying attention or having compact audio headphones on all, heighten the risk to pedestrians. 

Michael Schumacher retired with seven world championships, but 007 is up to 21 movies — with six different macho men in the role — and still going hard.During the past quarter-century and in 21 official films, Bond has been the target of more bad guys on wheels than anyone else in cinema history, yet he has always managed to escape without a scratch.And he has often pulled a nifty U-turn on the opposition with some sort of car trickery, from concealed machine guns on a 1960s Aston Martin to an '80s Lotus Esprit that morphed into a submarine — and even a remote-controlled BMW 7 Series in the '90s.Now he's back for the noughties, and doing it again in the remake of Casino Royale, which opened in cinemas just before Christmas. And he's back in an Aston Martin, just like the early days.The hype for the new 007 movie got me thinking not only about Bond's wheelwork in the latest British supercar, but also the dream car of my childhood: a scale model of the Aston Martin DB5 Bond drove in the 1960s.It came with all the Bond gear — revolving number plates, concealed machine guns, tyre-slashers, a bulletproof rear shield and even an ejector seat.In 1965, Corgi released its scale model of the gadget-laden DB5, and by 1968 nearly four million copies had been sold.It remains Corgi's best-known model, and I couldn't afford it.The release of the 21st-century Casino Royale has triggered a lot of talk about 007 and cars and movies.The model-making machine is already rolling again, with scaled-down copies of the DBS and even re-done — but de-gadgeted — replicas of the original DB5. And this time, there was a tiny Aston in my Christmas stocking.It's worth looking at what Bond cameos have done for car companies.BMW experienced plenty of benefit when it signed a multi-movie deal that began with its baby Z3 convertible. The world saw the car first when it was driven on the big screen by Bond. That deal continued with the Z8 convertible and the controversially styled 7, and even a BMW motorcycle.But then Britain bounced back for the last of Pierce Brosnan's appearances as Bond, when he slid back into an Aston and the baddies strapped into a rocket-equipped Jaguar.This time around, Agent 007 is driving a gorgeous new DBS, and there's even a special appearance by an original DB5.A poll has been conducted for the television series Top Gear on the most popular car chase in Bond movie history. And the winner is ... no, not the Aston. Not a Jaguar, nor the Lotus, nor even one of the BMWs.First choice was a crazy little Citroen 2CV that suffered all sorts of punishment — including being cut in half — when it was driven by Roger Moore in the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only. The four-wheeled co-stars:Dr No (1962): Sunbeam Alpine, Chevrolet Bel AirconvertibleFrom Russia With Love (1963): Bentley Mark IVGoldfinger (1964): Aston Martin DB5, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes 190SL, Lincoln Continental, Ford Mustang convertible, Rolls-Royce Phantom IIIThunderball (1965): Aston Martin DB5, Ford Mustang convertible, BSA Lightning motorcycle, gyrocopter1967 You Only Live Twice: Toyota 2000 GT, BMW CSOn Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969): Aston Martin DBS, Mercury Cougar, Bentley S2 Continental, Rolls-Royce CornicheDiamonds Are Forever (1971): Ford Mustang Mach 1, Triumph Stag, moon buggyLive And Let Die (1973): double-decker London bus, Chevrolet Impala convertible, MiniMokeThe Man With The Golden Gun (1974): AMC Hornet and Matador, Rolls-Royce Silver ShadowThe Spy Who Loved Me (1977): Lotus Esprit, Wetbike concept, Ford Cortina Ghia, Mini MokeMoonraker (1979): Bentley Mark IV, Rolls-Royce SilverWraithFor Your Eyes Only (1981): Citroen 2CV, Lotus Esprit Turbo, Rolls-Royce Silver WraithOctopussy (1983): Mercedes-Benz 250 SE, BMW 5 Series, Alfa Romeo GTVA View To A Kill (1985): Renault taxi, Ford LTD, Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II, Chevrolet Corvette C4The Living Daylights (1987): Aston Martin DBS and V8 Vantage, Audi 200 QuattroLicence To Kill (1989): Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, Kenworth petrol tankerGoldenEye (1995): BMW Z3, Aston Martin DB5, Russian tank, Ferrari 355Tomorrow Never Dies (1997): Aston Martin DB5, BMW 750iL, BMW R1200C motorcycleThe World Is Not Enough (1999): BMW Z8, Rolls-Royce Silver ShadowDie Another Day (2002): Aston Martin Vanquish, Jaguar XKR, Ford Thunderbird convertibleCasino Royale (2006): Aston Martin DBS and DB5, Jaguar E-type roadster, Fiat Panda 4x4, Ford Transit, Ford Mondeo

The striking little yellow Dongfeng D120 was a star at this week's Beijing motor show, the largest auto show in the massive Chinese market.The D120 was one of 15 cars at the show from Dongfeng, a major Chinese manufacturer. It has joint ventures with Citroen, Nissan and Honda.The show opened last Sunday amid rocketing sales with few signs that growing traffic congestion, pollution and rising oil prices were clouding the future of the industry.While international producers unveiled their latest products, the Chinese were displaying more than 180 domestic-made vehicles. Many of them are hoping that their inexpensive cars may one day find their way into global markets.Australian importer Ateco is looking at bringing Chinese-made cars Down Under within the next two years.Cars like the Geely, Great Wall, Chery and Red Flag are enjoying an almost 25 per cent market share in China, according to Xinhua news agency reports this week.After years of growth, China is the world's second largest car market after the US.In the first 10 months of 2006, 5.89 million cars were produced and 5.77 million cars sold in China, figures up 27 per cent and 26 per cent respectively from January-October 2005, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.If this trend does continue, China will have 100 million cars on its roads by 2020, up from43 million in 2005, a phenomenon that will cause severe pollution unless stricter emission controls are implemented, Xinhua says.More than 500,000 potential car buyers are expected to attend the 10-day show, many of them first-time buyers.International prestige brands are at the show keen to sell to the country's wealthy who are proud, and keen to flaunt their riches.It is this fast-growing generation of mainly under 35-year-old, self-made tycoons that the world's top luxury carmakers have now firmly set their sights on."We have more than 300,000 millionaires in China, so I think it's a good number for us to go into the market," Stephan Winkelmann, president and CEO of Lamborghini, says.Rolls Royce sales are up 50 per cent from last year and China has become its third largest market after the US and Britain, says Ian Robertson, chairman and chief executive."It is growing dramatically. There is a fast growing number of very rich people in this country," Robertson says.And sales in China, including Hong Kong, at 65 vehicles out of its global total of about 800, represented "nearly 10 per cent of our business," Robertson says.Porsche, which entered China in 2001, sold 857 cars in China last year and says it expects that figure to double this year.However, the show also comes as a new report shows there are problems with local production. Defects have been found in 77 per cent of domestically made cars, largely due to a price war forcing manufacturers to cut corners, according to an industry survey which was released this week.The range of defects, found within six months of the car being bought, involved tyres, airconditioning, brakes, locks and steering wheels, the China Daily newspaper reported, citing as its source the 2006 China Automobile Customer Satisfaction Index."The defects are a result of car makers constantly reducing prices and sacrificing quality," the paper quoted Fan Tianshun, director of the China Quality Association, which conducted the poll, as saying.For every 100 new cars, there were an average of 338 defects, much higher than last year's figure of 246.On average, China's car prices have dropped about 10,000 yuan ($A1250) per car each year over "the past few years" as manufacturers try to compete in the the booming market, the paper writes.Defects were more prevalent in cheaper cars in the 30,000 yuan ($A5000) to the 50,000 yuan ($A8240) range, such as China's Geely, Chery QQ and the Changan Alto.But fewer defects in more expensive cars helped result in customer satisfaction for China's domestically-built automobiles growing by 0.1 per cent so far this year over the figures reported in 2005. The index was based on a poll of 4648 participants in 36 cities this year, the paper reported.AFP