Radical designs to be set aside to increase appeal in a global market
Citroën must abandon its history of quirky styling if it is to succeed in the future, according to the company’s design director, Alexandre Malval. As a result, Citroën will not work on projects that challenge design themes in the mould of iconic cars such as the 2CV and original DS.
Malval, who returned to head up Citroën’s design team in 2012 after three years at Peugeot, has been charged with leading the firm’s push for world sales, with China and other Asian markets a priority.
“We are definitely at a crossroads as a company on styling,” said Malval. “Part of the difficulty is that it is part of our personality to be a bit radical and a bit different. Our iconic silhouettes — 2CV, original DS and so on — are radical in a way you can’t do when you design cars for a world market.”
Instead, Malval said he is concentrating on ensuring that Citroën’s ‘C’ and ‘DS’ ranges have distinctive, separate styles that apply across every model. The first evidence of this is expected to be seen when the new C4 Picasso is launched later this year. A new DS concept is also expected to be revealed during the year.
“We have to find a different aesthetic for the future,” said Malval. “The Chinese market is far more fashion led, but that fashion can change really fast and we have to be a little bit careful because of that speed of change. China is open to new silhouettes, new technology — so many things. But we must also remember our heartland in Europe, where proportions and volumes of scale are so important. We must tread that path carefully.”