Citroen to target 'iPod generation' with new product plan

Citroen is planning to broaden its horizons by offering a new product family for the �iPod generation�. It would be the fourth Citroen product family and will be positioned alongside the DS range, the regular Citro�n brand and the Picasso MPV family.

Peugeot-Citro�n design boss, Jean-Pierre Plou� said that the firm will introduce the new line at the forthcoming Paris motor show. Industry bystanders expected Citro�n was preparing to launch a budget model line, but Plou� denied the proposal.

�This is a brand defined not by price, but by simplicity and ingenuity of design. It�s our family of cars for those who value design purity above all else: for the iPod generation. I cannot reveal its name yet, but this brand will cause a lot of shock and surprise at Paris, I promise you. It�s a real departure for us � a break from tradition�.

Plou� mentioned Citro�n�s 2CV as the inspiration for its new model family, �not for the appearance of the car, but for its innovative spirit�. However, the real motivation for the brand is the C-Cactus concept, which debuted at the 2007 Frankfurt motor show.

The 4.2m C-Cactus was considered �too challenging and radical� to be put into production as a Citro�n earlier this year, but it could hit retailers under the new product line.

�The C3 Picasso would also be a model for the new sub-brand, if we were making it today,� Plou� said. �It�s a youthful, innovative, efficient and simple design. DS is all about �Frenchness�, sculpture and sophistication, while the new brand is the antithesis of that. It appeals through its stark, pared-down simplicity, to a different, younger customer than DS.�

One of the first models to be launched under the new sub-brand would be a supermini that would indirectly replace the aged and now axed C2 supermini. �We�re not planning on replacing the C2 as a Citro�n, but under the new brand we could use the opportunity to do something much more interesting,� Plou� said.