Design and Carscoop: Citroen

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Citroën Unloads First Official Photos of Tubik Concept Van [Updated]

Figures...just as we hit the post button on our previous article regarding Citroën's Frankfurt Motor Show surprise, the French carmaker dropped off the first official photos of its new concept model named Tubik.

As previously noted, the Tubik pays homage to the 1939 Tub van and its replacement, the 1948 Type H that was produced up until the beginning of the 1980s.

The Tubik serves as both a commercial van and a people carrier with the 4.8 meter long, 2.08m wide and 2.05m tall model providing comfortable space for nine passengers in three lounge-style seats, with the driver cocooned in a separated compartment.

A European motor show without some quirky futuristic concept from Citroën is like having creme brulee without the caramelized crisp sugar top layer. Fortunately, the French won't disappoint.

On Thursday, we shared with you a teaser video from Citroën foreshadowing the French firm's new concept study that will make its world premiere at this month's 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show.

Now, we've learned some more details including the type of vehicle which will be a futuristic looking van that doubles as a people carrier.

If you were bummed out by the absence of a concept model in our previous report on Citroën's 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show offerings, you'll be happy to know that as it turns out, the French automaker does have a surprise in store for us.

What it will be remains a mystery, as the only pieces of information that we get is through a teaser video clip that shows some sort of concept model.

You can watch it for yourself in the video after the break and tell us what you think.

It's show time for Citroën that is getting ready to display the complete DS line for the first time in Europe at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

Unless the French automaker is hiding a surprise under the hat, the company's star attraction will be the final production version of the DS5, which will be making its first appearance on European soil after its debut in showcar trim at this year's Shanghai auto show.

A rather foxy yet clearly irresponsible teenage driver of a Citroen Saxo had British police running in circles –literally- in a chase that took place at the Hams Hall industrial estate near Coleshill, England, last month during a police crackdown on what they call illegal car cruise events.

One of the spectators who had stopped on the side of the road to enjoy the chase filmed the young man’s shenanigans and uploaded the video on Youtube for all to see.

It all started when an unmarked Seat Leon hatchback pursued the driver of the silver Saxo who managed to escape by speeding up, down and even in…reverse on the busy highway.

Citroen’s DS3 sales have surpassed the 100,000 mark, more than 10,000 of which have been sold in Britain alone. The French therefore have decided to celebrate the event in their own, flamboyant way, that is, by launching a new range of colors and roof designs.

In the UK, car theft is down by more than 60% over the last seven years thanks to improvements in anti-theft technology. Coded car keys, alarms, immobilisers, better locks, strengthened glass and built-in tracking devices have made the modern automobile virtually impossible to steal.

Some 80% of car thefts now require would-be thieves to steal the owner’s keys or otherwise load their targets onto trailers for transport. And even then, tracking systems in some high-end cars mean these cars are recovered rather quickly.

Citroën is the latest carmaker to embrace the power of social media to communicate with its consumer base. The French company announced on Wednesday that it will host a live video web-chat on social networking site, Facebook, allowing the public to ask questions on its upcoming DS5 crossover.

The web-chat will Broadcast live from Citroën’s C_42 building on the Champs-Elysées in Paris between 12pm and 1pm (BST) on Friday, 24 June, with the panel including Pierre Monferrini (Project Manager for DS5), Andy Cowell (Citroën Design Manager) and Frédéric Soubirou (Designer of the Citroën DS5).

The new high-riding Citroën DS4 has arrived in Britain and is available for pre-order now, with first deliveries to take place on July 4, 2011. The five-door crossover model is available with three trim-levels (DSign, DStyle and DSport) and a choice of five Euro 5 compliant engines, with on-the-road prices ranging from £18,150 to just under £24,000.

The range includes two diesels, HDi 110HP and HDi 160HP, and three 1.6-liter petrol units that were co-developed with BMW, the VTi 120HP, THP 155HP and a new THP 200HP.

If there is one television crew that is almost impossible to go by unnoticed (at least by the male population) anywhere they go in the world, it is the hosts of BBC’s widely popular Top Gear program. This time, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond were spotted in the medieval town of Lucca in Tuscany, central Italy. Read more »

Citroen C3 Picasso Recalled in the UK because the Brakes can be Activated from the Passenger Side!

Citroen announced it will recall over 20,000 C3 Picasso models sold in the United Kingdom for a rather unusual reason. It seems that the car's brakes can be activated accidentally by the front passenger when pushing their feet into the footwell! The discovery was made by a BBC TV show called Watchdog that was alerted about the problem from a cleaning company owning three C3 Picassos.

The reason for this malfunction is a manufacturing flaw occurring in France during the right-hand drive assembly of the C3 Picasso for the UK market. Even though the brake pedal is switched to the right, it remains connected to a mechanism on the left passenger side, BBC's Watchdog explained. It was discovered that the mechanism was covered only by a thin piece of felt, and that it could be easily activated by the passenger’s feet.

Citroen has officially dropped photos and information on its all-new DS5, which is the latest addition to its DS sub-brand and the largest one yet. Measuring 4.52 meters in length, 1.50 meters in height and 1.85 m in width, the DS5 sits between the C4 and the C5 in Citroen's range, with the company describing the car as an alternative to the more conventional C5 with a higher ground clearance, more refined interior and a crossover shape.

Prepare for impending teasing over the next few days as Citroën has released the first in a likely series of preview images of the third member in its distinctive line of DS models, the DS5, which will receive its world premiere on 18 April at the Shanghai International Motor Show.

Aside from the image pictured above, the French carmaker is keeping mum on all the details simply stating that the “DS5 is set to bring distinctive new elegance and panache to the executive class”.

Toyota, PSA/Peugeot-Citroen and BMW are the carmakers closest to reaching their CO2 targets next year, according to a report by market research firm JATO Dynamics. The targets are imposed by the European Union, whose objective for 2015 is to enforce a fleet average CO2 level of 130 g/km for manufacturers selling cars in Europe.

In order to reach that objective, CO2 targets are lowered progressively each year. In 2009 the average was 145.9 g/km and in 2010 it went down to 140.9 g/km. Emissions regulations will be imposed starting next year, with significant fines to be enforced to automakers that will not comply with the new emissions limits.

Kimi Raikkonen surprised the motorsport world this week by announcing he will switch to NASCAR this year. The 2007 Formula 1 champion will start racing with a new team called ICE1 in the Truck series and will later move to the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series. Most likely, the team will be supported by Raikkonen himself, whose current WRC team is called ICE1 as well and is backed by the driver and sponsors from Finland.

This here is the E-3POD Antistatic design study and it was revealed at the Royal College of Art’s Interim Degree Show in London as part of the Double Challenge project sponsored by Citroën and aerodynamic simulation software company EXA. The task of the second year students was to envision an ultra-compact vehicle that could influence the design language of the automaker’s future electric cars.

Already partners in developing 4-cylinder petrol engines, BMW and PSA Peugeot Citroën have decided to set up 50-50 equity joint venture named the BMW Peugeot Citroën Electrification, which will primarily focus on developing hybrid components. Sharing the cost of research and development as well as production and component purchasing, the two companies expect to achieve significant economies of scale.

The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), which is similar to the American IIHS testing regimen, has released a list with the safest car in each vehicle category and the two worst performers overall of 2010. The cars that attained the coveted five star rating and achieved the highest overall score in their respective segment are:

------ Executive category: BMW 5 Series
------ Small Family category: Alfa Romeo Giulietta
------ Supermini category: Honda CR-Z
------ Small off-road 4×4 category: Kia Sportage
------ Small MPV category: Toyota Verso

On the other side of the fence are two models that achieved the poorest results of 2010. These are the Citroen Nemo with three stars and China's Landwind CV9 that received only two stars.

Design and Carscoop

Citroën Unloads First Official Photos of Tubik Concept Van [Updated]

Citroën to Revive Tub Van with new Futuristic Concept in Frankfurt

Citroën Video Teases Frankfurt Motor Show Concept

Citroën to Bring Complete Lineup of DS Models to Frankfurt Including Final Production Version of DS5

You Can’t Touch This: Boy Racer in Citroen Saxo has Cops Running in Circles

Color Me… Pink: Citroen Celebrates 100,000 DS3 Sales with New Color Options

Today’s Cars Are Nigh Impossible to Steal, Says Motor Industry

Citroën Designers to Answer Questions about New DS5 on Facebook

Citroën Announces UK Pricing and Availability for New DS4

Top Gear Spotted in Italy with Three Hot Hatches

Citroen C3 Picasso Recalled in the UK because the Brakes can be Activated from the Passenger Side!

Citroen Reveals Family-Sized DS5 Crossover ahead of Shanghai Premiere

New Citroën DS5 to Break Cover at Shanghai Auto Show Next Week

Toyota, PSA and BMW Closest to Achieving EU’s New CO2 Targets

Former F1 Champion Kimi Raikkonen Moving to NASCAR Truck Series

Citroën E-3POD Antistatic Concept for a Futuristic Electric Vehicle

Citroën E-3POD Antistatic Concept for a Futuristic Electric Vehicle

BMW and PSA Peugeot Citroën Form Joint Venture to Produce Hybrid Components

BMW and PSA Peugeot Citroën Form Joint Venture to Produce Hybrid Components

Euro NCAP's Best and Worst Performers of 2010

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