2024 is a particularly busy year for Citroën, which is not only renewing its entire B-segment with the new C3 and C3 Aircross, but also introducing a major restyling of its compact saloon to bring it into line with the brand's new style.
A largely revised style
It is fair to say that the third generation C4 has been unlucky since its launch in 2020. Presented at the end of the confinement due to Covid, it was launched in a still very strong pandemic period, before suffering the effects of inflation and shortage of components. As if that were not enough, the C4 brought an evolution of the Citroën style with the famous LED bars forming an X and a more disruptive style, less smooth than on the previous generation C3 and C3 Aircross.
However, since its development and launch, Citroën has evolved with a new positioning, a new logo and a new style radically opposed to the previous one. Bringing this new design to a car designed on the basis of the old one therefore requires significant changes for Citroën, which, as you can see, has not spared resources with a completely renewed front end and a transformed rear end, even if the changes are fewer.
The front of the C4 has evolved significantly, with a new bonnet that adopts an oval shape to convey the brand's new logo, instead of the initial notch. The redesign continues with new optics, abandoning the double steps and spherical appearance in favour of one-piece headlights, much thinner and much more refined, in line with the brand's latest new products. Contrary to what we might have thought, these new headlamps do not adopt the design of those on the C3, opting instead for horizontal LED bars grouped in their inner ends, which will be the lighting signature of the restyled C4. The same horizontal bar can be found on the radiator grille, which will also act as an indicator, as we could see in the prototype photos. The rest of the badge also evolves with a grille in the shape of the chevrons, just like on the new C3 and C3 Aircross. In short, the restyling of the C4 aims to visually widen the car, which is perceived as too narrow due to its height, even though it is average for the segment. At the same time, the brand brings its new style in a revised version adapted to the original style of its compact saloon, but the changes are really important and completely transform its style, giving it a stronger, less complicated and more refined personality.
At the rear, the differences are less noticeable, as the tailgate and the badge remain unchanged, but the redesigned C4 appears to have been transformed. By removing the LED bar that connected the quarter panel to the tailgate and formed a Y-bar, Citroën has completely redesigned this part of the car to make it much lighter. As a result, the car's shoulders appear wider, making the car look wider without the changes being significant. The main changes are to the rear lights and the headband, which has been redesigned to form a black block that integrates the spoiler and the small part of the quarter panel.
Of course, the lights have been changed to adopt Citroën's new visual signature in a style that is much more elaborate than the last C3 and C3 Aircross, given the C4 segment.
Source of numerous criticisms since its launch, the instrument cluster of the C4, currently 5 inches, could also evolve during the restyling to adopt a larger size, but on this point the information does not seem to correspond, we will therefore have to wait for the full presentation planned for the month of October since the restyled C4 would be present at the Paris Motor Show where Citroën will show its product offensive carried out in recent months with the desire to regain its place on the French and European market.
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