The revised Citroen C4 now sports this years must have accessory: a gaping trapezoidal lower intake, thus joining Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Ford, Nissan, Seat & Mazda – who all sport variations on this theme. The driving lights could have been taken from a Focus or Mondeo. Whilst a midlife refresh was expected – probably needed – it's a disappointment that the new nose follows the herd rather than C5.
Unfortunately this herdlike mentality seems all too prevalent in todays design studios, but it's particularly mystifying in this case as Citroen seemed to be rediscovering their mojo with the C4 and new C5 – and as far as the latter goes, for me the headline issue was not it's perceived teutonic-ness (is that actually a word?), but the fact Citroen's designers seem to have rediscovered stance, planform, surfacing: the old C5 was truly dreadful and an embarrassment to a marque with such a legacy. One of the most successful elements of the new C5 is how the nose progressed and explanded upon the current Citroen identity; the facelifted C4 is a step backwards. Presumably the budget wasn't there to change the headlights – the inverse curve in the inner bottom corner of the light is becoming a Citroen cue; however, even if the bumper was all that was being changed it does not explain or excuse this.
Overall, the C4 remains a modern, charismatic piece of styling – but the relative competence of the facelift is a cause for concern
Crowning all this is the new advert: the formerly sleek, achingly modern - if slightly sinister - robot of the previous ads has been replaced by a gaudy, self-regarding buffoon with a disco obsession. We can only hope that it does not bear the same relationship to the reborn Transformers as it's forbears did.
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