2021 Citroen C4 Reviews

If the Citroen C4 Shine is to succeed in the highly competitive small SUV segment, it has to really stand for something - and that it does. Yep, comfort is the key focus here, and when it comes to driving, one particular French feature helps to deliver it in spades.

The new-generation Citroen C4 has a clear focus on design. After all, it's a hatchback, fastback and SUV all rolled into one. But does its style-centric approach mean practicality has taken a big hit? Thankfully, the answer's no. In fact, this French model has a few surprises up its sleeve...

The third-generation Citroen C4 is a hatchback, liftback and SUV all in one, and now it's the next model to enter the long-term CarsGuide garage. But could this menage a trois actually be good value for a French model? Spoiler alert: yes.

Citroen has gone all crossover-y, transforming the C4 hatchback into something resembling a small SUV, but does it help solve its identity crisis under the company's new Stellantis management?

Derek Ogden road tests and reviews the Citroen C4 hatch with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Craig Duff road tests and reviews the Citroen C4 hatch with specs, fuel consumption and verdict at its Australian launch.

June 30 is D-Day. The end of the financial year is the best time to buy a new car because there are always special deals in showrooms. As carmakers and dealers aim to clear their outdated stock, Toyota uses a June push to cement its showroom leadership. Some of the special deals are on cars that have done demonstrator duty, or were built in 2012, or are just not selling as well as expected. So they're not the tastiest fruit in the bowl.But there is great buying across the board as demand for new cars fuels one of the longest growth periods in motoring. The bottom line is that you can save money -- and lots of it. So here's a look at the June sales, with Carsguide's assessment of the best deals on wheels.CITROENThe new importer is pushing hard so the Aircross SUV starts at $31,990 drive-away front-wheel drive or $33,990 with AWD, a saving of $3800. There's $5000 off the C4 Seduction turbo diesel auto hatch at $25,990. Carsguide says: The Aircross isn't great, but the C4 discount is tasty.FORDThe death notice for the Falcon and Territory has not helped buyer confidence but a 2.9 per cent finance push on Fiesta and Focus still looks good. The superseded Kuga SUV from $31,990 drive-away is a $10,000 saving. You can save about $3000 on a 2012 Escape SUV from $27,990 drive-away.The Territory gets a $6500 tickle, the TX seven-seater at $38,490 drive-away (third-row seat usually costs $2500). The impressive Mondeo liftback starts at $29,990. Good buying on Falcons, thanks to the arrival of the VF Commodore, from $33,990 and better if you haggle.HOLDENAs the VF Commodore creates queues, the outgoing Z-Series starts at $34,990 with five years' warranty and roadside assist. That also applies to the SV6 at $35,990 and the Cruze SRi and SRi-V at $23,490 and $26,990. Last year's Barina CD hatches are $15,990 drive-away with a sunroof. The Colorado is $39,990. Hard to see past the excellent Cruze SRi.HONDAClipped prices and free on-roads. The City VTi sedan is $17,990 and the (slightly) more lavish VTi-L automatic version starts at $21,990. The bigger Civic sedan is being cleared from $21,990. Free auto on the Jazz VTi at $19,990. The Civic is worth a look at $2500 off.KIAFree on-roads, discounts and $1000 gift vouchers on many models. A five-door Rio S is about $3K off at $15,990 drive-away with a $500 gift card; the three-door Rio is $14,990 and the five-door Si is $18,990. Runout Cerato TD sedans start at $17,990 for the S, saving about $5000, the Si sedan is $23,990 and hatch at $17,990. All get a $1000 gift card. Cerato SLi and SLS have drive-away pricing but miss the gift card. All Optimas have free on-roads. A 2012-build Optima Platinum is $37,990, saving about $4000 with a $1000 gift card. Most Sportage SUVs include on-roads and a $1000 gift card. Carnival and superseded Rondo pricing is drive-away. The Sportage diesel and Optima are top-notch.MITSUBISHIThe manual Lancer gets an old-school value pack on the Special Action Model for $19,990 drive-away. The Mirage is $12,990 drive-away for the ES manual, with a $500 cash-back that also applies to the auto.Driveaway prices also for the compact ASX at $24,990 for the 2WD manual, the Outlander LS 2WD auto at $29,990, Pajero GLX-R auto at $54,990 or $59,990 for VRX. Both come plus $3000 cash-back, saving about $6000.The Triton ute is now tackling Great Wall from China at $19,990 drive-away for a GL single-cab 2WD with alloy tray, or add luxury for a GLX dual-cab 4WD diesel at $31,990 drive-away with $2000 cash-back, saving about $14,000. The utes look good at those prices.NISSANA 2.9 per cent finance package, with agreed value after three years, makes the Pulsar ST sedan look good at $49 a week or $19,990 drive-away. The X-Trail ST 2WD petrol manual cops a $4000 reduction to $25,990 drive-away, while the Navara RX 4WD dual-cab manual is cheaper than ever with a $9500 cut to $30,990 drive-away. The Pulsar sedan deal is attractive.OPELThere are drive-away deals across the range. The basic Corsa is down by about $2500 to $16,990 drive-away, the Astra is from $22,990 drive-away for the 1.4-litre turbo petrol hatch with three years of free servicing, saving about $5500. The top-line Insignia sedan is from $39,990 drive-away with heated leather seats. The Astra is easily best of this breed.PEUGEOTFree on-roads at Peugeot on most models but not the cool new 208. The 4008 SUV cops a $1500 saving from $29,990 drive-away and there are deals on the outgoing 4007. Nothing to see here.RENAULTA Koleos from $26,990 drive-away looks even better with interest-free finance. The Megane hatch is from $22,990 drive-away with finance pegged at 1.9 per cent. The slow-selling Fluence and Latitude sedans are available with 2.9 per cent finance. The Megane CC convertible goes from $43,990 including on-roads. The sporty Clio RS is from $34,990 drive-away and the hotrod Megane RS has 2.9 per cent finance.Commercial deals start with the short-wheelbase Kangoo petrol manual with dual sliding doors from $20,990 drive-away, moving up to the Trafic short-wheelbase manual for $29,990 and the long-wheelbase manual for $32,990, while the Master large van starts from $46,990 drive-away. There's a five-year/200,000km warranty on all light commercials ordered in June. Hard to argue against a $3000 bonus on the Koleos but stocks are tight.SUBARUDrive-away pricing -- for savings of $3000 to $4000 -- is the bait, with Impreza pricing from $23,990 (excluding the WRX, of course). The Tribeca from $54,990 now includes on-roads but you need to visit a dealer to get the full story. Nothing outstanding.SUZUKIThe front-drive SX4 gets a Navigator pack with voice-controlled 6.6-inch satnav with Bluetooth for $19,990 drive-away for the manual and $21,990 auto. That also applies to the 2WD auto Grand Vitara at $29,990 drive-away, including reversing camera and satnav with Bluetooth. The Alto GL manual also gets satnav for $11,990 drive-away for the manual, with the Swift GL manual at $17,490 drive-away including cruise control and Bluetooth. The Grand Vitara is a polished piece.TOYOTAThere's 2.9 per cent finance on Aurion and Camry with the Camry Altise looking best at $29,990 drive-away. Other drive-away deals include $15,990 for the Yaris YR five-door, $21,490 for the Corolla Ascent automatic, $39,990 for the Kluger KX-R 2WD five-seater, $60,990 for the Prado GXL turbo diesel auto and $39,990 for the HiLux SR 4WD dual-cab ute. The right time for the cabbies' new favourite, the frugal hybrid Camry.VOLKSWAGENDrive-away pricing on passenger cars and zero finance on commercials. The Polo is $16,990 on-road, the Jetta is down to $25,990 and the Passat $36,690. The Polo is Carsguide's 2010 COTY.VOLVOFuel and servicing for three years or 60,000km plus roadside assistance. There are conditions -- with a pre-paid BP card based on 15,000km a year and $1.50 a-litre pricing -- and the latest V40 hatch is excluded. Clever twist on bargaining but a pity it doesn't apply to the V40.Paul Gover's 10 COMMANDMENTSYou must still do your homework. You must still check the fine print. You must still be prepared to haggle and compromise.But do it right, crunching the numbers and running right to the dealer's deadline, and you can drive away in something special at a special price.The starting point is all the deals, from sticker specials to cheap finance and steak knife-style free extras, being offered by most of the 60-plus brands in showrooms today.If something you want is on special, go for it. But check that the car was built in 2013, and is not a geriatric old-timer from 2012, and ensure your target is exactly what you want - not a stripped-out stocker, perhaps missing an automatic gearbox - that will cost thousands to get the way you want it.Once you lock down a target, don't think the advertised special is the end of the deal. You also need to negotiate for a better price on delivery and on-road costs, and avoid the trap of buying over-priced extras such as paint and upholstery protection, window tinting and extra-long warranties.No-one can expect to go into the ring with a showroom professional and expect to win, because buyers only get a new car occasionally and sales staff are dealing every day. But, by concentrating on the real bottom line - the changeover price - and being prepared to compromise, you can come out ahead.The best tips are the simplest. Run as close as you can to June 30 to sign the deal and get the car, because dealers are all aiming for targets that can mean tens of thousands in bonus money from headquarters. Also be prepared to take a car they have in stock, even if it's not your favourite colour, because dealers are aiming to clear everything they have on the lot.And have your finance in place before you arrive, especially if you're taking up a special deal, because that makes things quicker and you'll also be spared any hassle and potential extra costs.Watch out for 2012 cars because the warranty clock has already been running, don't forget that a big discount today will also mean less at changeover time, and remember that a demonstrator car could have had a hard life already. 

The days when European cars automatically commanded a hefty premium in Australia are long gone and almost every week one brand or another announces what sales people love to call a "repositioning". It's not just that the dollar is making imports cheaper. Competition for buyers is fierce.The French brands are perennial underperformers in the sales charts and reposition a lot. The latest to face up to reality is Citroen and some of its price cuts are fairly dramatic. A top-spec C5, for example, drops $14,000. That's not repositioning. That's moving interstate. Bad luck if you bought one last week.The move is timed to coincide with the arrival of the second-generation C4, Citroen's mainstay small car. It shifts a couple of suburbs to begin $4000 lower, at $22,990. Like its predecessor, the new C4 borrows the underpinnings from the equivalent Peugeot model, in this case the 308. So it's a bit longer and has a bigger boot than a Volkswagen Golf, although still far from the largest in its class.Thanks to Citroen's two-tier model strategy, this time the C4 comes only as a five-door hatchback. The three-door "coupe" is dropped to leave room for a premium DS4 model that arrives early next year. As before, the C4 is a competent design with a strong road stance and pleasing headlight shapes, but a bit generic apart from details such as the grille.The cabin has some of the sculptural flourishes that are overdone in the C5, and a long dash combined with the world's smallest glovebox. The unique fixed-hub steering wheel has gone but its orthodox replacement still has an awful lot of buttons.For enough cash, the C4 can be filled with equipment that's only just trickled down from luxury cars, such as massage seats and cornering lights. There are also a few gimmicks including dials that change colour. However, it's less intriguing at entry level, where Bluetooth is missing and rear passengers must wind their own windows.Then there's the base 1.6-litre petrol engine, which produces noise without much corresponding forward motion. It's even slower -- almost 14 seconds to 100km/h -- with an automatic gearbox that, incredibly, has only four speeds. The automatic comes later, as does Citroen's version of a double-clutch transmission and fuel-saving tricks, such as idle-stop. Later there will also be a turbo petrol. A manual diesel 1.6 is the other variant available from launch and it's better than the petrol, gets six speeds instead of five and has an electric parking brake. It also has the best fuel economy, of 5.8 litres per 100km.Neither will delight the driver in you, with doughy handling that lacks any zest. There's no alacrity to the steering, which is dull, and plenty of body roll. The ride quality is OK until it rolls over something it doesn't like, when it gets jarring.

ATTRACTION often leads to seduction, and that's what Citroen is hoping its new C4 will do to buyers in the tough small car market. The latest C4, core model of the French brand, has retained much of its aero-efficient, domed look, but is slightly longer, wider and taller than before.It will initially be available in a choice of two petrol and a diesel engines, two transmissions and in three trim levels: Attraction, Seduction and Exclusive. All engines are four-pot 1.6-litres, but there's a world of difference between them.As attractive and seductive as the sexy five-door hatchback might be, this one has bucked the Citroen trend to be quirky. It's one of the more conventional cars from the innovative maker. Even the fixed-hub steering is gone in favour of a regular wheel which saves 3.0kg. And prices, which now start from $22,990, have been trimmed by up to $4000 to add to the appeal.Things start with the Attraction, which has an 88kW/160Nm petrol engine paired to a four-speed automatic.It's hi-spec for a base model, and includes ABS, EBA, ESP, traction control, six airbags, aircon, cruise control with speed limiter and remote central locking.It's one of the most affordable small autos on the market, and one of the most stylish.The Seduction, which adds foglights with cornering function, tinted glass, Bluetooth and some leather trim, can be had with the same motor, or a 115kW/240Nm turbo version or an 82kW/270Nm diesel in manual or auto. And soon also with a 'micro-hybrid' e-HDi engine and six-speed EGS electro-robotic shift.The Exclusive uses turbo-petrol, HDi or e-HDi power and six-speed manual, four-speed auto or EGS. Citroens have always been known for their comfort and all C4s get very good, supportive seats, dual-zone aircon, a comprehensive trip computer and steering wheel controls for the iPod-compatible audio and cruise control.The Exclusive has Volvo-style blind spot monitoring to warn of traffic from behind, folding mirrors with LED lights, auto-on wipers, front seats with a massaging function, climate control and customised dashboard lighting.There's a Picasso rechargeable torch in the boot which can expand from 380 to 1183litres by folding the back seats flat. Biggest boot in its class, they say. And the car runs on Michelin energy saving tyres.The petrol engines are the same BMW-designed units as used in some Peugeots, Fords and Minis and the diesel is well-proven.The oil-burner with the $1000 extra micro-hybrid drivetrain includes a stop-and-start system with regenerative braking which saves up to 15per cent fuel in city driving and helps the car achieve an open road cruising figure of 3.8litres/100km and 4.2litres/100km on average.All engines are Euro 5 compliant and the EGS transmission has an auto setting said to give better economy than a manual gearbox.We sampled an 88kW Seduction petrol manual and diesel on a squirt through one some of twisty tarmac terrain in NSW and liked the C4's road manners.Its suspension is a bit softer than the original model but it hangs on with typical panache, brakes well and its electro-assisted steering was great.Although 88kW isn't much these days, the totally revised powertain gave the car more than adequate performance  and a combined fuel figure of 6.9litres/100km.  Liked the petrol but we'd happily stump up the $2000 extra for the diesel. Sacre bleu, such torque!Attraction petrol four-speed automatic starts the range at $22,990 with Exclusive e-HDi six-speed EGS  topping it out at $32,990The C4 has the maximum five star safety rating by Euro NCAP. A sporty DS4 version of the C4 will arrive in Oz in early 2012 and a DS5 is expected mid-year. A C4 Aircross AWD SUV is due before Christmas. Every car in the Citroen range gets pared prices, better trim and equipment for 2012.

Funny buggers, us Strayans. Love to go on about what larrikin individualists we are, then we all run out and buy Mazda3s. Try going five minutes in a big city without seeing one. You can't.Which is just one reason why Citroen's second generation C4 is a tough sell: A point of difference in this most generic of segments should be welcome, but we seem not that keen on difference especially when different doesn't necessarily means better.This equation is exceptional on the face of it, less so on closer examination with $22,990 to get into the entry C4 Attraction.This buys either a five-speed manual or four-speed auto to drive an atmo 1.6-litre petrol engine. Pretty basic jigger - rear seat passengers have to wind up their windows and even in top spec there's no rear air-con vents.From $26,990 the Seduction (yes, I'm afraid so ...) adds the choice of a BMW/PSA sourced-1.6 turbo petrol or one of two diesels, and items like foglights with cornering  functions, cruise control with memory and Bluetooth. The diesel gets the robotised manual EGS transmission with stop/start.The Exclusive level brings blind spot warning, folding mirrors and auto wipers and lights.The tech highlight is the e-HDI "micro-hybrid" engine, which stores electricity and sends it back into the engine. Teamed with a new gen' stop/start system, driven via the EGS and running Michelin Energy Saver tyres, Citroen claim emissions of 109g/km Co2 and fuel use better than 4L/100km.Love to tell you how it goes, but only manuals (which almost no-one will buy) were available to test this week. In addition to that old world 4-speed auto in the stripper, all models persist with torsion beam rear suspension.Where the previous C4 was, and remains, one of the least generic five doors on the road (one which made many think about the double chevron brand for the first time), its successor is going to be altogether harder to find in a carpark - even with $1000 "Rouge Babylon" paint. Vive la indifference, you'd have to say.You get the distinct feeling Citroen's keeping its design powder dry for the next year's model rollout, featuring the coupe-like DS4, DS5 and the C4 Aircross compact SUV. On paper, at least, these have the flair we'd hoped for here.Though 380L cargo space is class-leading, passenger space is not, considerably less than a Golf or  yes - a Mazda3. Up front, though, the top spec Exclusive is a bit of a treat; a driver-oriented cockpit with intuitive and readily manipulated controls, including the cruise on a wheel that no longer revolves around a fixed hub. You can fiddle with the dash display's light colouring and intensity.Blind spot warning system comes on the Exclusive, which is a stand out in class. Rear side airbags are optional on the Attraction, which is pretty ordinary. The C4 rates five stars in European crash testing.You won't get anywhere fast in the Exclusive HDi, but you will get a long way. An introductory drive that was alternatively vigourous then traffic bound saw us use little more than 6L/100km. At highway cruising speed, we'd have made Melbourne from Sydney on what was left.Indeed, cruising is the HDi's remit; a soft sprung, rolly, (very) tall-geared device that's noisier at freeway speed than you'd like, though that's mainly from the wind. The diesel itself is not only fairly refined, but a doughty, capable unit that we're keen to see teamed with the self-shifter. Meanwhile, here's another French conversion to right-hand-drive that sets the clutch pedal maddeningly irritatingly high.It's in the driving that the C4 succeeds in standing apart. You can carp at its lack of "sporty" dynamics, but - like the bigger, luxuriantly riding C5 range - that's not what it's here for.A point of difference among the inevitable choices, we'll need to see how it rolls with an auto for a market relevant conclusion.