First quarter 2016 is confirmed for the local launch of Citroen’s innovative C4 Cactus crossover.
Spacious and practical inside, the Citroen C4 Cactus will arrive with either a 81kW/205Nm turbocharged 1.2-litre three cylinder petrol engine priced around $25,000 or a 68kW/230Nm 1.6-litre four cylinder turbo diesel which will be stickered under $30,000.
While international models of the Citroen C4 Cactus run a bench rear seat, Australian buyers score a 60:40 split-fold rear seat with two ISOFIX child seat anchorage points outboard and a centre child restraint location in the middle.
Thanks to Citroen Australia’s direct links to the factory (no longer a private importer) the head office in France was happy to undertake the engineering/development of the Aussie rear seat.
“We are thrilled we have been able to engineer a factory based solution for such an important and ground breaking vehicle,” revealed Citroen Australia chief John Statari. “This specification, along with local evaluation of specifications and features, will be pivotal in ensuring we offer the best possible product to Australian customers.”
Reading international reports, the headline act for the Citroen C4 Cactus is the unique ‘Airbump’ side plastic protection cushions which can be ordered in four colours.
But www.carshowroom.com.au has been given a personal introduction to a couple of pre-production models and we reckon most prospective customers will actually be knocked-out by how much more spacious the Citroen C4 Cactus is inside compared to rival crossovers.
Same with cargo space – 358-litres with the rear seat in-place or a massive 1,170-litres when folded.
Yep, move beyond the head-turning looks and you’ll discover the Citroen C4 Cactus is one very practical and sharply priced crossover.
And unlike some similarly priced rivals, all Citroen C4 Cactus models come standard with satellite navigation and a reversing camera.
Naturally, Citroen being Citroen, there is lots of creativity to be had with the C4 Cactus.
For example there are 10 exterior colours (four of which are new), six trim colours, three dashboard colours, four roof rail colours and optional 17-inch black alloy wheels and exterior mirrors.
Citroen reckons the turbo-diesel will be the most fuel-efficient non-hybrid vehicle in Australia with combined-cycle fuel consumption in Europe rated at 3.6l/100kms. For the three-cylinder petrol it’s 4.7l/100kms.
Part of that fuel consumption success can be attributed to light weight – aided by an aluminium bonnet and things like the pop-out rear windows (which themselves save 22kgs) – the Cactus is actually 200kgs lighter than Citroen C4 hatchback.
The petrol engine will drive exclusively via a five-speed manual transmission while the turbo diesel is exclusively a six-speed automatic (with a quirky push-button selector which allows for a roomy centre console and ‘sofa-type’ front seat).
And the Citroen C4 Cactus debuts a couple of ‘world-firsts’.
On the safety front there is the world’s first roof airbag – a 120-litre airbag above the windscreen which when deployed provides protection from the tablet centre screen and other dashboard items.
Shifting the front airbag to the roof has freed-up dashboard space which Citroen has used for extra storage locations.
The other ‘first’ is the ‘Magic Wash’ windscreen washing system which uses small jets at the tip of the wiper blades. A couple of advantages flow from this concept – the driver doesn’t lose vision while the windscreen is being washed and because it uses only half of the water of normal systems the waher bottle size is smaller which reduces weight.
And as for those ‘Airbump’ cushions – well they’re just brilliant and provide protection from the every-day minor bumps which are part of family life.
For example a 30kgs shopping trolley travelling at 4km/h will simply bounce-off the ‘Airbump’ cushion leaving no damage.
We’ll be reviewing the Citroen C4 cactus before year’s end.
