The Citroën C4 is tipped to be radically reinvented, taking heavy influence from the genre-bending Oli concept and prioritising affordability and utility.
“We will put a car very much like Oli on the road,” Citroën design chief Pierre Leclercq told Autocar when asked about the miniature electric car's role in the French company’s future. He explained that the new C3 supermini and C3 Aircross crossover had been designed in parallel with the Oli and that it “is going to influence another car coming afterwards, and it will be quite exceptional”.
“When we developed that concept, there wasn’t one idea that we didn’t want to push [into production],” said Leclercq. He conceded that some elements of the Oli were “not good ideas”, suggesting that some of its more conceptual elements would remain on the motor show stand, although he wouldn’t go into specifics.
“I can tell you that the intention with Oli and the car that will come to the road is functionality, innovation and price – mobility for all,” summarised Leclercq.
Citroën product chief Laurence Hansen suggested that the concept’s ideas – and therefore any faithful recreation of it – might not fully materialise across the brand’s line-up until 2026 or 2027, because a typical product development cycle is around five years.
The C4 family hatchback will be up for replacement around that time, following a mid-life facelift later this year, making it the most logical candidate for an Oli-flavoured reinvention. That facelift, due to be unveiled at the Paris motor show in October, will bring more squared-off bumpers and lighting signatures inspired by the Oli, but is not anticipated to introduce radical technical changes.
Given the new C4’s affordable, utilitarian billing, it’s likely use Citroën parent company Stellantis’s value-focused Smart Car platform.
Autocar understands that design work recently started on a broadened portfolio of models based on the platform, following the initial tranche that comprises the C3, C3 Aircross, Fiat Grande Panda and Vauxhall Frontera.
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I agree. The front and rear light clusters ruin what is otherwise quite a handsome car.
I always suspected that the only explanation for the randomness of the C4's rear end was that it had been designed to accommodate a facelift, or bumlift in this case. Maybe we're about to get what the designer wanted all along. I hope so.