FirstLook: Citroën C5Of late, Citroën hasn't had a good time in Ireland (or indeed in many parts of the world), but it's hoping to change things with its new C5, says Paddy Comyn
Citroën in Ireland could do with some good news. It has been rather a torrid time of late for the French brand in this country. Citroën has effectively disappeared off the radar in many respects, and there is a scramble by the Irish distributors to arrest this decline.
It all went so horribly wrong when the brand introduced a discount scheme for their new cars a number of years back. This was not some hare-brained scheme they dreamed up themselves, but rather a dim-witted directive from France, which resulted in brand-new models being offered at knockdown prices.
What this did was damage customer confidence in the brand, and affect residual values of the cars too. Sales slowed down and existing owners were left with cars that they had little idea how much they could trade in for.
Thankfully, the Irish operation rebelled against this system, and have started the rebuilding process. But there is a lot of work to do. Citroën has just 1.13 per cent market share up to the end of September, and when you see that a car such as the Citroën C4, a worthy rival to the Ford Focus, sold fewer than 500 units, compared to the Focus's almost 10,000 for the same period, the gap is a huge one.
It is not all bad news. The C4 Picasso MPV is doing well, and deservedly so. And next March will see the arrival of the new C5, which was revealed to a large group of journalists last week in Paris.
The C5 did okay here in Ireland, commanding a small but loyal following. It was a car that was noted for its outstanding comfort and decent diesel engines, but it was never really seen as being that upmarket, something that Citroën has acknowledged this time around.
Citroen's managing director, Gilles Michel, spoke at the unveiling of this car marking "a new page in Citroën's history, a car that is imaginative, modern, surprising and astonishing".
So rather than the hatchback, the new larger C5 is offered as a saloon and an estate. The new car is the same length as the Ford Mondeo, yet has a longer wheelbase than the Mondeo and the Volkswagen Passat. Fleet buyers make up 60 per cent of the segment and Citroën is aiming for these buyers and, according to Citroën's sales manager, Vincent Besson, the firm will be "looking for 55 per cent conquest sales with the new C5, while trying to hold on to its current C5 clients". The firm has been targeting fleet and leasing companies with the new car.
Visually, this is a handsome car, with many styling cues taken from the Airdream Concept and from the larger C6. It looks more like an executive car than its predecessor and as such will have a greater chance of appealing to the fleet-car market, where a feeling of prestige is important to the user.
You can tell that the firm is on one hand keen to keep its individuality, and to a degree the new C5 does look almost unique, but there have been concessions made, such as the offering of a more standard "metallic" suspension, as well as the Hydractive suspension peddled by the firm for some time now - Hydractive 3 Plus self-levelling suspension features springing and damping that adjusts instantaneously to offer a cosseting ride, whatever the road conditions.
A soft mode provides optimum comfort, while a firmer mode delivers greater body control. A sport mode can also be selected for an even more dynamic ride. There is also the option of more sporty seats rather than the more traditional comfort-oriented ones. A multilink rear suspension set-up should improve handling, but as this was a static presentation, there is nothing to report from a dynamic perspective.
The quality feels better, both inside and out, but many of the examples we saw were high-spec ones. What was notable was the lack of rear headroom for taller passengers caused by a concave rear window.
There are features carried over from other models, such as a second-generation fixed-centred controls steering wheel and much of the running gear from the larger C6 model.
SAFETY FEATURES INCLUDE UP TO nine airbags and a collapsible pedal assembly - in the event of an impact, the brake and clutch pedals retract into the floor of the footwell to limit injury to the driver's legs and feet. A retractable steering column is also fitted.
There will be a wide range of engines available from launch. The petrol powerplants include 127bhp 1.8i 16V and 143bhp 2.0i 16V units, while there are four HDi diesel engines - HDi 110, HDi 138, HDi 173 and HDi V6 208 units - each fitted with a Diesel Particulate Filter System that helps to virtually eliminate particle emissions. A selection of manual or automatic gearboxes is offered.
Citroën has high ambitions for this model, hoping to sell 150,000 units per year in Europe, which is more than twice what they are currently selling of the model.
The situation in Ireland could be a little more tricky. With its arrival in Ireland in March 2008, at a time when a large portion of new car sales have already taken place, the Irish operation would be hoping to increase the current sales of 250 units threefold next year.
Gallic Distributors sales and marketing manager Niall Costello told Motors in Paris: "Obviously with the car arriving quite late in the year, the best we can hope for is about 700-800 units in 2008, but we would hope to increase that to 1,800-2,000 units the following year." We will have to wait until next year to see if this car can work its magic for the brand. Expect a starting price in the region of €28,000 for the new car.