When in 2017 it stopped being produced without leaving a successor, the French brand promised us, despite everything, a successor to the Citroën C5 . Perhaps the clearest sign that a successor was being developed was given even a year earlier, in 2016, with the presentation of the CXperience concept.
The CXperience showed a futuristic oversized saloon, with contours that evoked the great Citroën of the past (the choice for a two-volume bodywork being the most obvious), without however falling into easy retro — quite the opposite…
Let's be pragmatic: the market increasingly turns its back on the big saloons, let alone the saloons that don't have the right symbol on the bonnet. Dispensing resources in this sense is a risk, and even more, when the expectation about a new great Citroën is that it will be something “out of the box”.
According to Linda Jackson, CEO of Citroën at the time, the successor to the C5 should be based on the CXperience prototype.
The arrival of the successor to the Citroën C5 — which would also take the place of the C6 — was promised for this year, 2020, but having arrived in the year in question, and although we are still halfway through the year, everything points to that this is no longer happen as promised.
C4 has priority
In fact, the focus of the “double chevron” brand for 2020 should be on the new C4, which will take the place of the C4 Cactus — after the restyling, he took over as official Citroën representative in the C-segment, to fill the void left by the end of the C4. The new generation of the C4 should be known as early as next month, with sales starting at the beginning of next autumn.
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Considering the context in which we live, where the world faces a difficult path towards economic recovery, it would even be justifiable for Citroën to leave projects with a certain level of risk aside.
Citroën C5 Tourer
"Splendid"
But recent statements by Laurence Hansen, director of product strategy at Citroën, made in a video posted on social media, give hope that the successor to the Citroën C5 is not forgotten:
“Believe us, the car exists and it is splendid. It's a really important car for us.”
What to expect from the successor to the Citroën C5? Technically there shouldn't be too many surprises. The new model will almost certainly be based on the EMP2 platform, the same one that equips the Peugeot 508 and the recently known DS 9.
Peugeot 508
In addition to the base, you should share the engines with your “cousins”. Plug-in hybrids in particular, the ones that make the most sense to be able to meet the CO2 emission targets imposed by the European Union.
The big question lies around its design. Two years ago, the brand's declarations were aimed at creating a model that would reinvent the segment, a model that would be as modern and attractive to the market as the SUVs are today.
Within the group there seems to be room for an “out of the box” model. The Peugeot 508 showed us a path, that of the four-door coupés, with a sportier design and lower height. The DS 9 followed the opposite path, more conservative and elegant. The successor to the Citroën C5 may show a third path in the attempt to save the saloons, that of boldness — a path already trodden in the past by the brand…
Will the CXperience concept serve as a reference, or is Citroën preparing something different? We will have to wait, but we don't know until much later when… For the time being, no date has been announced.
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