Sector: Lower medium Price: €13,950–€24,170 Fuel: 3.1–4.6l/100km CO2: 82–107g/km

In 1948, Citroën unveiled its vision of a car for post-war France. Cheap to buy and run, durable yet lightweight, compact but capable of carrying four adults in comfort, the loveable 2CV sold 3.8 million units through a 42-year life cycle.

Citroën hasn’t officially made the link between the two, but the C4 Cactus feels like a modern interpretation of the same design brief. Functional, affordable and stylish, this stands to breathe new life into the manufacturer’s C-segment offering and should be useful for capturing buyers out of the growing crossover market too.

There’s no retro pastiche styling here, but it doesn’t take long to find shared DNA. Where the 2CV featured rippled metal panels to resist low-speed impacts without adding much weight, the C4 Cactus uses air-filled plastic sections called Airbumps in vulnerable areas to achieve the same. Soft suspension and a high ride height are also common features.

Ruthless weight reduction is also a common factor. So the platform is a stretched version of the DS3’s, rather than the modular architecture used in the C4 Picasso. Using pop-out rear windows, a single-piece folding backrest and an aluminium bonnet mean the entry-level car weighs 965kg – 200kg lighter than the equivalent C3.

It means Citroën has been able to align engine options with smaller cars. There are four three-cylinder petrol engines and two four-cylinder diesels to choose from, and Citroën expects the Euro 6 compliant BlueHDI 100 to be the biggest seller, offering range-best fuel economy of 91.1mpg.

Aggressive pricing, low insurance, tax and maintenance costs due to its minimal power and weight, are all components of a targeted 20% reduction in whole-life costs compared to the segment benchmark. It’s not a quick car, even with the excellent new PureTech 110 petrol, but with its soft ride quality and light steering it’s an easy, relaxing drive.  

The cabin feels tuned to this. It’s as stylish as the exterior, making up for widespread use of hard plastics with details such as the slightly pearlescent finish on its all-digital dashboard, leather straps for door handles and the huge glovebox styled to look like a travel case, which all stop it feeling cheap.

Versions with the ETG6 clutchless manual gearbox get the best looking interior, with two individual front seats styled to look like a bench and gear selector buttons on the dashboard, but the transmission itself is sluggish and jerky to use. Had Citroën adopted a 2CV-like dashboard-mounted gearstick for manual models, it could’ve avoided cutting the bench in half.

The pop-out rear windows leave room for large door bins, and the roof-mounted front airbags allow a generous glovebox, but there's a high load lip under the tailgate and the rear bench doesn’t fold easily, or flat with the boot floor.

Citroën has hit the mark here, though. Plentiful French design flair and a clever approach to saving money, make the C4 Cactus as charming today as the 2CV was 66 years ago.

Verdict:

Characterful, affordable cars are what Citroën does best, and the C4 Cactus is clever with it. This deserves to be a real threat to the B-SUV and C-segment mainstream.