By offering a third generation with strong tendencies, Citroën has taken the risk of shaking up the compact sedan category by mixing the qualities of sedans with those of SUVs. Today, more than two years after its launch in Europe, it must be said that Citroën's choice has paid off, as the 2022 C4 has reached a position that no previous C4 has achieved.
In fact, despite the particularly difficult context of component shortages and serious logistical problems specific to Stellantis, Citroën manages to place the C4 fourth in sales in Europe in 2022 in its compact saloon segment, with the chevron compact saloon even becoming the first French saloon.
In a segment down 9% to 1.82 million units, compact sedans represent 57% of the volume, but they fell more (-11%), confirming a trend observed in recent years which shows a decline in compact sedans in favour of compact SUVs. And this is where it gets interesting, since the C4, with a very SUV attitude while remaining a compact sedan, hunts on both counts, which may explain why it manages to record a position which, let's remember, has never been reached by a C4 before. Similarly, with a 3% drop in its volumes in 2022, the Citroën C4 is the one with the least drop of the 12 cars present in the ranking, only the 308 and the Mégane show increased sales with respectively the attractiveness novelty for the saloon with the lion and the counting of the Mégane e-tech in the figures of the Mégane.
Thus, in a segment that has seen a significant decline in sales and importance since 2018, the Citroën C4 is having its best year since 2014 (61,533 units), while the Peugeot 308 has seen its sales fall by 63.35% (161,515 units sold in 2014) and the Renault Mégane by 58.74% (135,606 units sold in 2014). (161,515 units in 2014) and the Renault Mégane by 58.74% (135,206 units sold in 2014).
In conclusion, Citroën's sales are obviously at a low level, both in France and in Europe, for various reasons, but in this dark passage there are still positive notes such as the performance of this C4, so deserving and yet so denigrated, especially in France. It must be acknowledged that the C4 is a success in Europe, a success that confirms the excellent results obtained in the clinical tests prior to its launch, as the C4 had the best PSA values at the time, a success that also shows that the brand's prejudices are worth paying for.