Citroen 2CV is back

And how much is Citroen paying you?

This thing doesn't look anything like a 2CV. And if it's going to be a showoff luxury car, what is the point, exactly? The automotive market needs something like the original 2CV--simple and inexpensive, but not an automotive appliance like a Dacia Logan.

Enough of this retro stuff, already... it's almost the end of the first decade of the 21st century, so can we have something original, please?

By orino on 10 September, 2009, 7:49am

Back to the Past, not the Future

Back in Jul 05 some students designed the Evoque, a more faithful modernisation of the 2CV design.
WHY, to their detriment, do car companies not build what the public wants to buy.
We have the cheap Dacia, Tata Nano,etc that look horrible yet are built to sell cheaply. In South Africa they still make the MkI Golf alongside the latest version,in India the 1954 Oxford is still manufactured as a Hindustan, while the reinvented 'chic' Beetle / Mini / 2CV are sold at a premium because they're 'retro'.
It seems the car companies in Europe can't mix the words 'Cheap' and 'Retro' together.

By Bren555 on 10 September, 2009, 8:06am

Neither the form nor function of the 2CV

At least we know what the designer of the Plymouth Prowler is up to now. :-)

Actually I like the look of the car (at the current ride height), it's just not a CItroen, nor a practical rural car. I suspect it will have more than 2hp too. Perhaps this should be the DS3 rather than the Skoda lookalike that will wear that name?

By everyonesshadow on 10 September, 2009, 8:14am

As per Bren555's comment, you can read all about the Evoque concept here...

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/208391/citroens_2cv_is_back.html

According to our sources, the concept was seriously considered by Citroen top brass, before the firm settled on developing the concept you see here.

By DanStrong on 10 September, 2009, 9:38am

What customers want

If Citroen produce the car aimed at their target market within their price range people will buy it. If they can ride on the back of nostalgia for the 2cv then that will be a marketing benefit. If they want to be really successful in the UK with a 'town car' they need to produce a car with style, large wheels and soft suspension for the potholes and speed humps, low running costs and a slide back fabric roof that doesn't cost an extra £3000.

By CarsDefineUs on 10 September, 2009, 9:51am

laurie griffiths

I thought we had a replacement for the 2CV, it is called the Pluriel and has been with us since 2003! I purchased mine in 2004 and certainly, at that time Citroen were telling us that it was the modern 2CV. Why bring a new one out!

By laurieg2 on 10 September, 2009, 10:18am

Not in the spirit of a 2CV (and doesn't look like one either!)

I'm bored of retro-styled cars. It began with a FWD Golf that looked a but like a beetle, moved onto the expensive,medium sized sports car with not much interior space that looks a bit like the miracle of packaging and low cost that was the mini and culminated in the Panda with a better-looking bodyshell thats built at low cost in Poland (that's in the spirit of the 500) but sold at a premium price to yuppies in Kensington.

It would great to see manufacturers reviving names because they've designed a car in the spirit of the original. The Citroen DS range of luxury cars makes some kind of sense., but what has this to do with a 2CV? If you hadn't told me it looks like one I wouldn't have noticed.

The original 2CV was a cheap and practical car designed (as CarsDefineUs said) to cope with rutted roads (fields?). It was fuel efficient, had a high ride height and was cheap to make. The fact that it was stylish (well I think so but I like to think most people don't agree!) was an accident of good design. Too many cars are styled first and then engineering comes as an afterthought.

If Citroen wanted to design a cheap, fuel efficient small car with plenty of interior space, a high driving position, cheap (unpainted plastic?) bumpers and soft suspension then (as stated above) it would be an ideal city car and there might just be a huge market for it when everybody tires of buying badly engineered styling exercises. (Actually it' sounds like the Renault Kangoo, MK1 Berlingo, possibly the C1, maybe even the C3 Picasso, but not this!).

I'm off to take my MK2 Punto (look great, try fixing it!) to the scrapyard. Who can name a cheap, practical, well-engineered car for a growing family (I don't want another styling exercise)?

By inicholson on 10 September, 2009, 10:25am

Pluriel

I have to agree with Laurie - I love the Pluriel and it does bear much more resemblance to a 2CV than this. It also seems to be widely disliked, generally looked down upon and not many people bought them (I would've done if my kids had no legs and/or there was some legroom in the back). Myabe that's Citroen's problem with reviving the 2CV, most people didn't like it. Those of us who did were very much in the minority, but that's always been the problem with Citroen's best cars - they're quirky and therefore appeal to a small market sector.

By inicholson on 10 September, 2009, 10:40am

won't look like this

I like it but,
the production car would no doubt have boring fat seats plain cheap interior and the exterior would no doubt be watered down too.

By kromax on 10 September, 2009, 8:47pm

Pourquoi?

NON... Just NON!!!

By sgtgrash on 11 September, 2009, 1:55am

Mon Dieu!

With the C6 I thought that maybe Citroen were getting back on track, but first the DS, now this! What are they doing? I so agree with the comments above about so many new cars being about style before engineering. At one time we had real creative thought, 2CV, original DS, GS etc. We had original Mini, Fiat 128, Renault 16, Renault 5. Where has all this design purity and engineering creativity gone? Everything is just a cynical marketing exercise now!

By pajbse on 11 September, 2009, 10:31am

Evoque!

I think that 2CV come back would be a extraordinary sales success and would bring some diversity into today's grayness in modern designs that all look too much alike. From design aspect though I'd rather see new 2CV looking more along the design proposal named Evoque, that was created in a World Automotive Design Competition by Guillaume Daniel, Julien Lebely, those lines would be more appropriate to form spiritual successor of 2CV....

By Sladjan75 on 11 September, 2009, 2:51pm

are Citroen going a little mad?

In the 2CV, Citroen had the greatest basic car ever. In the DS, they had the most characterful car ever. So what's with the the 'new 2CV' going luxury, while the 'new DS' is to be a small hatchback.Talk about messing with great heritage, this is madness.
Buyers really want great small cheap cars now, and a new 2CV would be perfect for the times. The lovely C6 should have been the new DS or even CX. The C4 could become a great new GS (but who remembers that highly original Citroen).
It's as if Citroen have some 20-something marketing people that don't really know the company history...

By AJH400 on 15 September, 2009, 2:36pm