Geneva show: Citroen previews next Picasso

CITROEN’S next-generation C4 Picasso five-seat people-mover has been previewed by the quirky Technospace concept, revealed in images ahead of its official world debut at next month’s Geneva motor show.

It is the first time a vehicle based on PSA Peugeot Citroen’s new Efficient Modular Platform 2 (EMP2) architecture has been shown, and the Technospace lives up to the ‘techno’ part of its name with a large high-definition 12-inch panoramic touchscreen on the dashboard.

Fulfilling the ‘space’ part of the name is “standard-setting” room on the inside – despite the vehicle being shorter, lower and of equal width to the current C4 Picasso at 4430mm long, 1830mm wide and 1610mm high – while the claimed class-leading 537-litre boot is 37 litres up on the current model.

A bold front end with high-set LED daytime-running lights above rectangular main headlights borrows an idea from the Nissan Juke mini-SUV, while the tail-light clusters bear more than a passing resemblance to those of a Volkswagen Golf.

However, the rear lights feature a 3D effect that has become a hallmark of recent Citroen concepts and was first seen in production form on the DS3 Cabrio revealed at the Paris show last August.

The French company has carried over the visibility and interior airiness of the current C4 Picasso, retaining the large glass areas including a ‘high forehead’ panoramic windscreen, thin A-pillars with large front quarter-light windows and glass-covered C-pillars.

Apart from extra chrome details and aerodynamic-looking two-tone alloy wheels, the Technospace closely resembles a fleet of apparently production-ready cars recently spotted on Spanish roads.

Citroen has stopped short of revealing the interior of the Technospace, or how the design translates onto the seven-seat Grand Picasso version, but further details will emerge at the Geneva show on March 5.

PSA last month announced the Technospace’s EMP2 architecture – designed to reduce weight, CO2 emissions and for use across more than half of PSA vehicle production – would be first used this year on replacements for the C4 Picasso and Peugeot 308.

Previous Citroen importer Ateco Automotive did not import the five-seat C4 Picasso to Australia and new distributor Sime Darby, which also has Peugeot in its stable, is on the verge of announcing its future product plans.