Citroen to premier new C1 in Geneva

Citroen will reveal its new C1 next week at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show, writes Trish Whelan. This will be a fresh take on the popular model that has sold more than 760,000 units worldwide since its launch in 2005.

Two petrol engines available are the e-VTi 68 Airdream and the new 1.2 82bhp VTi 82 from the PureTech engine family with a fuel return of 4.3 L/100km and 99g/km C02 emissions.

This new city car will be available in 3- and 5-door versions, with an open-top body style -Airscape - also introduced. The car also comes with improved suspension comfort and road handling.

The new C1 is part of a new breed of Citroen cars, reflecting the renewal of the brand. Citroen say it combines strong personality with compact, condensed volumes and wider tracks at both the front and rear. Eight exterior colours are available and the car can be personalised with bi-tone colour options.

Two special launch versions have different body and roof colours - Olive Brown roof and Lipizan White body. The interior is bright and airy with a colourful ambience. The 196-litre boot can increase to 780 litres with the rear seats folded. Comfort features will include automatic air conditioning, heated seats and, for the 3-door version, memory settings for the front seats. Hill start assist is standard. Available technology includes a reversing camera which projects images onto the 7-inch Touch Drive Interface.

The C1 is one of a trio of small cars produced jointly by Toyota, Peugeot and Citroen.