CITROËN (STELLANTIS) TURNS THE PAGE OF THIRTY YEARS OF MONOSPACES
PARIS (Archyde.com) – Citroën, a brand of the Stellantis group, announced on Thursday the upcoming discontinuation of the Grand C4 SpaceTourer, turning the page on 30 years of minivans which embodied the brand’s family image but which are now dethroned by SUVs.
“Because the aspirations of customers have evolved, the expression of modernity and enhancement is now carried by other silhouettes, the way of thinking about mobility is changing, Grand C4 SpaceTourer today draws its
reverence,” the chevron brand said in a statement.
In the first quarter, sales of minivans in France fell virtually to zero, SUVs with raised and sportier lines taking the lion’s share (46% of sales), now neck and neck with classic sedans (47 %).
Production of the Grand C4 SpaceTourer at the Spanish plant in Vigo will stop at the beginning of July after the current order portfolio is exhausted, Stellantis added in its press release.
Citroën, however, retains two silhouettes of electric minivans in its catalog, but is now focusing on its C5 Aircross SUV and its large C5X sedan.
In thirty years, the brand will have sold nearly 4.5 million minivans worldwide thanks to the Evasion from 1994, the C8 from 2002 and above all, after 1998, the Xsara and C4 Picasso phenomenon – renamed by the SpaceTourer sequel – and whose rounded silhouette will reach its peak in sales in 2007.
(Gilles Guillaume, edited by Sophie Louet)