Citroën has revealed a concept car that closely previews a production electric revival of the 2CV, due in 2028 with a targeted price of around €15,000, or £12,750. If achieved, that would make it one of the cheapest electric vehicles on sale in the UK and potentially the cheapest new car outright, undercutting most budget rivals.
The French brand presented the concept at the Paris motor show as a demonstration of how the original 2CV's everyman brief can be translated into the electric age. Chief designer Antoine Gaillot-Drevon said the goal is to provide affordable transport for what he called the «farmers of today», such as nurses working in the countryside, rather than the agricultural workers who inspired the post-war original.
Central to the ambitious pricing is an all-new electric car platform, distinct from the Smart Car architecture that underpins the current C3 and from parent company Stellantis's forthcoming STLA One platform. Citroën has devised the new underpinnings to take advantage of proposed EU regulations intended to incentivise sales of small electric vehicles, which could help offset the cost of the technology.
The low price will be matched by a deliberately minimalist technical specification. Citroën is targeting a kerb weight of just one tonne, which would place it among the lightest EVs on the market and signals the use of a small battery. The current e-C3 offers a hint of what to expect: its entry-level Urban Range variant uses a 30kWh lithium-iron-phosphate pack for 130 miles of range. The similarly retro Renault Twingo, a key rival, employs a 28kWh LFP battery for 157 miles.
Size is another factor in keeping weight down. At 3.76 metres long, the concept is even shorter than the 1948 original, making it one of the smallest cars on sale. Gaillot-Drevon said size was among the biggest considerations during a two-year development process that saw several significant changes as successive management teams debated between a fully retro revival and a new shape merely inspired by the 2CV's spirit. The final green light came after current CEO Xavier Chardon took the helm last year.
«We tried a lot of different proportions, a lot of different platforms and sizes», Gaillot-Drevon said. «We had a lot of questions in terms of how big it should be, how small it should be, how retro we should go, and we decided to take inspiration from the TPV». The TPV was the 2CV's pre-war precursor, and its radical engineering mindset informed the new car's design philosophy: to be simple, honest and well engineered.
Citroën believes the time is right for a new 2CV because, in Gaillot-Drevon's words, «when you see the situation in the world, everyone needs a smile on their face». Although the team considered painting the concept flat grey to mimic the 1937 TPV, they opted for a colourful car with a bright, fresh interior. The retro approach is also a deliberate strategy to counter the wave of Chinese newcomers threatening Citroën's budget-friendly positioning. «You can't buy history», Gaillot-Drevon said. «They are brand-new, so the only thing they can offer is a cheaper price – but emotion is something you need».
Design work focused on avoiding an aggressive or imposing appearance. The placement of the headlights proved a particular dilemma, resolved with help from Stellantis's new European design chief, Gilles Vidal, who had overseen the revivals of the Renault 4 and Twingo. «When Vidal joined the company, he said the first thing you do is make the headlamps bigger and bring them inboard, and automatically the car had much more character – that friendly face», Gaillot-Drevon recalled. The V-shaped bonnet with protruding headlamps was a constant from the start.
The silhouette remained consistent across all proposals, preserving the shape that earned the original nicknames such as Tin Snail or, in much of Europe, Duck. Reinterpreting that architecture in a modern way was, Gaillot-Drevon admitted, quite a challenge. The interior posed a greater headache because the TPV and original 2CV had no conventional design theme inside. The 1930s prototypes lacked a dashboard, let alone a speedometer, with steering columns sprouting from the floor and the gearlever mounted below the windscreen. The new car adds a small infotainment touchscreen but retains references to the past, including bench seats upholstered in yellow tartan and the famed umbrella-handle gearlever.
Citroën's hope is that the new 2CV will be bought with the heart rather than purely for rational reasons such as price or practicality, which typically drive purchases in the A-segment. «Our goal was not to give a promise that we can't deliver», Gaillot-Drevon said. «It's just a car for daily life that brings a lot of joy, to make people smile».