#citroen

Citroen’s Survolt electric car is pretty single-minded. While the Tesla Roadster is an electric sports car for the road, the Survolt is meant to be an outright race car.

As part of our coverage of the Paris Auto Show, we decided to throw in some bonus galleries of cars we thought were cool but didn’t quite fit with the rest of our coverage. Paris was the site for a lot of important competition cars from French manufacturers, like the Peugeot HDi LeMans car, the new Citroen DS3 rally machine and the upcoming Fiesta RS WRC. Hit the jump to check out our galleries and information on the cars.

With the huge success of their C4 rally car, Citroen has a lot to prove with their DS3 successor. Having already claimed three driver’s championships and two manufacturer’s championships in four quick years, the DS3 will have a ton to live up to.

Obviously the playing field is a tad different with the new 2011 World Rally Championship rules in place, so Citroen opted for a smaller, naturally aspirated engine to power their DS3 rally car. We’ll be on hand at the Paris Auto Show to check out the DS3 rally car in person (at its official debut) but before then we’ve been teased by Citroen with this video.

And it’s a real tease, never holding a frame for more than a couple of seconds. If you’re adverse to quick changes in light and picture, we don’t advise you to watch the video. It’s just a whole mess of flickering with very subtle hints as to what the DS3 will pack inside and out. But as with most things on the Internet and YouTube, you’ve got 33 seconds to spare, don’t you?

Check out the video after the break.

[Source: TopSpeed]

Of all the eye-candy at this year’s Paris Motor Show, the newly unveiled Citroen Lacoste might be considered the nutritional equivalent of a jelly bean, but that doesn’t stop us from wanting to indulge in the empty calories on display here.

Loeb said, of his massive, 85-meter jump in Turkey, “It was an incredible sensation as we were up in the air for several seconds. Not for a moment did we imagine that we would jump so far.”

Hit the jump (no pun intended) for all ten big-air shots.

[Source: World Car Fans]

Citroen has a serious problem with large sedans. Their C6, while gorgeous and a not entirely bad car, is selling slowly in the United Kingdom and other markets – and did we mention depreciation? A $58,000 C6 is between $16,000 and $20,000 after only four years!

With Citroen looking to move upmarket with its new DS line, the French company is looking to produce two striking new concepts to help boost the brand’s image.

Peugeot and Citroen’s parent company, PSA, is planning to bring back the long dormant Talbot (seen above, in rally trim) brand to compete with Renault’s low cost Dacia brand.

Dunlop Tires released a new video that can only be described as automotive ballet, as a way to promote their new tire line. The video features three identical green Citroens doing all manner of handbrake turns and driving in reverse for the entirety of the clip.

The premise of the short is that the parking lot where the three cars are situated is set to close in exactly one minute, and the cars must get out within the allotted time – going backwards. While it definitely falls under the “Professional Driver, Closed Course: Do Not Attempt” category, it’s a worth a view, if only to see how good these guys are at driving.

[Source: Dunlop]

A little over a month after the new Outlander Sport SUV (known as the ASX or RVR in the rest of the world) took a bow at the New York Auto Show, Mitsubishi has announced that it will be giving a variation of the sharp-looking crossover to Peugeot and Citroen, two companies which have had a long alliance with the Japanese automaker.

The Peugeot/Citroen variant will come with a very European 1.6-liter diesel engine, and the choice of either front or four-wheel-drive. Expected to launch in 2012, Peugeot and Citroen expect to move a combined 50,000 units per year, with the companies forecasting a 60% growth in SUV sales by 2015. While Europe is not usually thought of as hot spot for SUVs, compact crossovers (like this small, diesel powered model) are a hit and the ASX could potentially be a popular vehicle for locales with tight, winding streets and high fuel prices.

Official release after the jump:

The elk test is one of the most infamous procedures used to evaluate new cars. A double lane change at 50 mph, the elk test was designed to help Scandinavian auto journalists evaluate the highway speed stability of a car, when the threat of a large animal in the road is a very real safety hazard.

The most infamous incident involving the elk test saw the Mercedes-Benz A-Class roll over during the maneuver. While it was an embarrassment for Mercedes-Benz, it had the benefit of introducing electronic stability control systems to passenger cars. 13 years later, a trio of similarly tall wagons from Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat underwent the same test in Britain, with similar results.

While the three cars are all based off the same platform, only the Fiat had stability control. While it passed the elk test, the Citroen variant suffered a roll-over, prompting Which magazine (the publication conducting the test) to suspend testing of the Peugeot, due to its lack of stability control.

Both Citroen and Peugeot say that they will be working on a stability control system for their cars. While many enthusiasts complain that these systems ruin the driving experience in high performance situations, most stability control programs can be turned off, and the elk test demonstrates how useful they are, especially in vehicles like the aforementioned vans, where the risk of a rollover in an emergency is far more likely than anyone ever driving them rapidly.

[Source: Which Magazine]

Last week we reported about the Citroen Metropolis and its goals to rival German automotive manufacturers BMW and Mercedes-Benz, specifically in the China market. Low and behold a few days later, the first photos of the Citroen Metropolis in its full reality have surfaced.

Now that we’re able to admire every angle imaginable of the vehicle, we can tell that Citroen is fairly on point in terms of styling for the luxury sedan market, perhaps even setting a new standard in design. What is unique to the Metropolis, that is clearly evident in these photos, is its lower roof-line that is reminiscent of Citroen’s GT supercar concept circa 2008.

As we mentioned before, the Citroen Metropolis is eco-friendly with an electric motor powering it at low speeds but while on the freeway a 2.0L V6 contributes 272-hp. Citroen claims that with both the electric and V6 engines working harmoniously, they put out 460-hp combined.

We’ll be keeping our eyes tight on this concept and hopefully it will become a reality. One thing is for sure, competition is never a bad thing, with the Porsche Panamera and the Aston Martin Rapide paving the way, things are looking bright in this market. Make sure to check out the video of this beauty after the break.

[Source: Carscoop]

Gallery: Citroen Metropolis Concept

The Chinese-luxury market segment is continue to grow at an exponential rate. Many new-age Chinese entrepreneurs are affluent and distinguished, looking towards enjoying the finer things in life, which naturally includes automobiles. Many luxury vehicle owners are working hard in penetrating the market in China. Even Porsche debuted the Panamera in Shanghai, knowing how important luxury sedans are to the affluent Chinese. Interestingly enough, French auto manufacturer Citroen is focusing on this segment and attempting to beat out the luxury German manufacturers.

The World Rally Championship’s governing body, the FIA World Motor Sport Council has just confirmed that as of 2011 competing vehicles must use non-turbocharged naturally aspirated engines – a move that has series veteran and all-star Sébastien Loeb considering a new career path.