The next generation Citroen C4 would be a direct rival to the Dacia Duster. The French manufacturer is repositioning itself on the market as a player in the budget class.
Citroen has declared its desire to become a more profitable manufacturer, focused on pragmatism, and its position in relation to Dacia is becoming clearer. The French want to be a rival for the Mioveni brand, launching affordable, versatile models on the market, and the next target is the Duster.
The change of strategy for Citroen seems strange, but it could be a necessary one, given the “agglomeration” of brands in the Stellantis group, of which Citroen is also a part, competing for the same type of customers. right L’argusCitroen wants to increase profitability, so it is abandoning models that do not contribute enough to this and will focus on more affordable offers created for a different customer category.
By doing this, Citroen becomes a rival for Dacia, a brand that has evolved a lot in recent years and has become successful even in Western Europe. The current generation of the C4 crossover was recently updated, so it will be a few years before it is replaced by a completely new model. And when that time comes, Citroen plans to launch a direct competitor to the Duster.
Citroen wants to bring to the market a rival for Dacia Duster
Thierry Koskas, CEO of Citroen, started a strategy similar to that of Dacia, focused on pragmatism and low prices. And the car that will form the basis of the design of the future SUV that will compete with the Duster will be the Oli concept. It was initially presented as an “ideas lab”, but it seems that Oli will not just stay at the stage of inspiration for the brand’s design and that will not give rise to a new model.
We’ve seen some of its design cues incorporated into the new-generation Citroen C3, which rivals the Dacia Sandero. Oli will form the basis of the next generation C4, which, according to the press in France, is already in the development phase.
It seems that the new model was scheduled to go into production from 2026, but it was postponed to 2027. And the platform that will give birth to this rival for Dacia Duster is the Smart Car architecture of the Stellantis group, on which cars such as the Citroen C3 and Fiat are built Giant Panda.
The range of engines would be kept, so the future C4 will be available in purely thermal, mild-hybrid and purely electric formats. This will allow Citroen to use existing engines and keep costs down, which is essential for a car that wants to compete with the Dacia Duster.
Source: www.promotor.ro
