Citroen C4 Cactus confirmed for Australia

Quirky Citroen C4 Cactus SUV will arrive in local showrooms in 2016.

Citroen has announced that its unique C4 Cactus compact SUV will hit Australia in the first quarter of 2016 to rival cars like the new Mazda CX-3 and Honda HR-V. 

The Cactus brings a number of unique family-friendly features to the compact SUV segment, which aim to give it a practical edge over its rivals.

One detail that all city-dwellers will appreciate is what Citroen calls Airbump technology – essentially a group of plastic-surfaced air capsules built into parts of the body that are usually prone to dents and scrapes.

No maintenance is required and should someone ding your door or run a shopping trolley into parts of the car equipped with the bubbles no damage will be done. 

The clever design continues inside where the passenger airbag has been mounted in the roof allowing for a massive 8.5-litre storage compartment in the dashboard. 

The Cactus also features two digital displays – one for the instrument cluster and another larger centrally mounted screen housing the air-con and multimedia controls. 

If someone dings your door or runs a shopping trolley into parts of the car equipped with the air bubbles, no damage is done. 

Another quirk is the gear selector which is a simple switch located where you might ordinarily find air-con controls, and the door handles are leather straps. 

Cactus engine options in Europe include a 60kW 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol, 80kW petrol and 74kW turbodiesel unit capable of using as low as 3.1L/100km combined on the European cycle. 

Riding on a variation of the award-winning Peugeot 208’s platform, the Cactus is 4160mm long, 1730mm wide and 1480mm tall. 

Remarkably, it weights less than 1000kg (in European trim) tipping the scales at just 965kg. It's also around 200kg lighter than the standard C4 hatchback. 

Local pricing and specifications for the C4 Cactus SUV will be revealed closer to the car’s Australian launch early next year.