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14 Jun 2020

THE HISTORY OF CITROËN COMFORT EPISODE 4: COMFORT OF THE MIND

The notion of comfort has always been at the heart of Citroën models – for over 100 years. In this period of confinement, when everyone is rediscovering something about themselves, Citroën is returning to the Citroën Advanced Comfort® programme. A programme designed to engender Citroën vehicles with a unique type of comfort – one that is a true signature of the brand. Immediately noticeable in all current models, Citroën Advanced Comfort® takes a comprehensive, modern and multi-sensorial approach to comfort. Its aim is to make every journey in a Citroën as comfortable as if you were in your own living room. The Citroën Advanced Comfort® programme is based on four major pillars: Driving comfort, making you feel like you’re in a cocoon Travelling comfort, thanks to practical and functional interior design Comfort of use, with intuitive technologies to simplify your life Comfort of the mind, with a warm and bright atmosphere, and everything in its place These four pillars are major areas of differentiation for the brand's vehicles, underpinned by exclusive innovations such as suspension with Progressive Hydraulic Cushions® or Advanced Comfort seats. Technologies made accessible to as many people as possible. All four pillars have concrete examples throughout the history of the brand, so let’s rediscover Citroën comfort in four individual episodes. Today we end with Episode 4, Comfort of the mind.

THE HISTORY OF CITROËN COMFORT EPISODE 4: COMFORT OF THE MIND

COMFORT OF THE MIND: A WARM AND BRIGHT ATMOSPHERE

As we spend more and more time in our cars, combating stress and fatigue – improving ‘comfort of the mind’ – is vital. Citroën therefore aims to create calm and refined spaces where ergonomic and functional highlights filter out the external environment. Comfort of the mind is achieved by reducing the mental load on the driver, combining clever driver aids with light, spacious cabin designs.

The brand has always been devoted to fostering peace-of-mind for owners. Citroën cars were the first to come with owners’ handbooks – when producing Europe’s first mass-produced cars, the brand wanted to ensure as many owners as possible knew how to operate and maintain their vehicles correctly. Citroën drivers have always been comfortable in the knowledge that any concerns would be easy to diagnose.

While driving can often be stressful or boring, a ‘feel-good factor’ can keep spirits high in the cabin. Enhancing the mental well-being of the driver, and passengers, has been a cornerstone of Citroën’s devotion to comfort for many decades – not just to prevent stress or boredom at the wheel, but also to enhance driving pleasure.

THE LIGHT FANTASTIC

Cabin light and ambience are core elements of ‘comfort of the mind’ for Citroën, with interiors designed to lighten the mental load on the driver. Light can enhance the perception of colour in to the cabin, transforming moods and improving the sense of calm and serenity. It offers the designer, and the driver, great benefits, especially on traffic-congested roads. Citroën’s use of light has defined the brand’s cars for longer than many realise. From the roll-back fabric roof of the 2CV, Dyane and the current C1 Airscape, to the highly adaptable roof of the Pluriel, and the glass roof ‘portals’ of the Berlingo Modutop, Citroën’s cars have always let light flood in.

The 1955 DS paired thin pillars with a large glass area to fill the cabin with light, and the GS and CX had glazed rear pillars to achieve the same aim. Later, the XM used thirteen glazed window sections to stream light into the cabin.

The 1994 Xanae concept car was a radical 'one-box' people-carrier, which predicted the appearance of the mid-sized family MPV. The Xanae signalled the use of an extended-windscreen and glass roof that allowed light to flood the cabin.

In the C4 SpaceTourer, the 5.3 m² of glass admitted even more light, as it extended back over the front row of seats. Full-length adaptive glass sunroofs also transform interior ambience in the New C3, Grand C4 SpaceTourer, and C4 Cactus. The ‘Airscape’ roof in the current C1 evokes the fun and function of the early canvas-roofed Citroën 2CV and Dyane. With large glazed areas and wide openings, the most modern Citroën cabins are exceptionally bright and airy.

With so much light in the cabin, Citroën offers owners a choice of soft, warm materials, clever patterns, and classy finishes to further mark the brand’s cars out from the mainstream. Light-years ahead, the pioneering DS represented one of the earliest applications of synthetic fascia mouldings, featuring bright new colours and advanced materials for the first time in car interior design. Meanwhile, other major carmakers persevered with metal, wood and leather-lined cabins, with stuffed seats, small windows and leaf-spring suspension systems.

The earlier C4 Picasso featured a ‘Pack Lumière’, offering a range of augmented interior lighting effects. In today's Citroën cabins ‘Cielo’ ceiling lights and special effects provide carefully enhanced illumination. Scented air fresheners and air purifiers further add to the resulting ambience.

A sense of spaciousness and airiness is something that has defined almost every Citroën car. By adopting advanced and imaginative cabin architecture, finished in bright materials, Citroën uses light and colour to reduce fatigue and enhance comfort. In recent years, there has been no finer example than the C4 Cactus, which introduced a new style of interior to the market. Digital functions, a ‘command’ touchscreen with intuitive controls, sofa-inspired front seats, new materials, and ‘open-air’ cabin architecture marked another step-change in interior car design, just like the DS of the 1950s. The cabin of the C4 Cactus was named ‘Most Beautiful Interior’ of the year at the 30th International Automobile Festival in Paris in 2015, with high praise for its shapes, the harmony of colours and materials, and the overall design approach.

DRIVER AIDS

Comfort of the mind is also helped by the range of electronic driver aids on offer to drivers of today’s Citroën vehicles. It is confidence inspiring to own a vehicle that is actively looking for potential hazards, and will subsequently help you avoid them. In the C4, C5 and C6 of the 2000s, Citroën offered Europe’s first lane-departure warning system. Using infrared sensors to detect the car’s lane position, it also featured a vibration function in the seat to alert the driver if they strayed out of their lane.

The Head-up Display (HUD) function that has now featured on numerous models, advises the driver with easy-to-read information. For peace-of-mind, it is designed not to dominate the driver’s attention and negates the need for them to take their eyes off the road.

A wider range of advanced driver aids is now available to Citroën buyers to promote comfort of the mind. These include active safety brake, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring system, tyre-pressure monitoring systems, hill-start assist, park assist and automatic lights. In each instance, these functions provide valuable support to take the strain off the driver.

CITROËN’S NEW CONCEPT OF COMFORT

Driving conditions are changing all around the world. With increasing numbers of cars on the road, journeys are becoming increasingly fragmented and incidences of ‘road rage’ are common. At the same time, with the proliferation of new in-car technologies, drivers must be able to multi-task at the wheel. With the appearance of semi-autonomous cars, and fully autonomous cars on the horizon, comfort has never been more important.

Citroën has always sought to make its cars comfortable, for drivers and passengers alike. Now, with over 100 years of history behind it as a brand, the comfort philosophy still drives the development of modern Citroën vehicles. Occupants expect a warm welcome when they open the door, and want access to digital features on the move. Not only must these technologies fit in seamlessly, they must be easy to use and safe too. Innovations must maximise the physical comfort of a car, while maintaining the pleasure and enjoyment that so many motorists derive from steering their car down their favourite road.

New technologies, modern production techniques and innovative designs have played a crucial role in developing the comfort for which Citroën is now well known. The development of autonomous vehicles will place a new level of importance on comfort. However, Citroën’s philosophy is equally focused on creating greater peace-of-mind for those drivers who still wish to drive for fun, maximising driving pleasure on all types of roads and on all types of journeys.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

JOHN HANDCOCK, HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS

07810 180249

john.handcock@citroen.com

SIMON BROOME, PR MANAGER

EMMA GAFFNEY, MEDIA RELATIONS EXECUTIVE

CRAIG MORROW, PRESS FLEET MANAGER

JEREMY TOWNSEND, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

07827 896480

jeremy.townsend@mpsa.com

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The Citroën Brand

At the heart of the automotive market, Citroën has asserted itself since 1919 as a popular brand in the true sense of the word, making people and their lifestyles its first source of inspiration. This spirit is underlined by the ‘Inspired by You’ brand signature and is embodied by cars combining unique design and benchmark comfort. Within the sector of mainstream brands, Citroën also stands out with a unique customer experience (Citroën Advisor, ‘La Maison Citroën’, etc.). In 2019, the Citroën sold one million vehicles in over 90 countries.

The Citroën Brand in the UK

The UK is the 4th largest market for Citroën globally, with 80,000 vehicles sold in 2019. Based in Coventry, Citroën UK’s range of hatchbacks includes C1 (city car), C3 (supermini) and C4 Cactus (compact family car). The UK SUV line-up consists of C3 Aircross (compact SUV) and C5 Aircross (mid-size SUV). The UK MPV range features Berlingo (5 or 7-seats), Grand C4 SpaceTourer (7-seats) and SpaceTourer (up to 9-seats). Citroën UK’s Light Commercial Vehicle offering covers all sectors of the market with Berlingo Van, Dispatch and Relay. Citroën has a clearly defined electrification strategy with all models across the range offering an electrified version by 2025. In the UK, 2020 sees the launch of New C5 Aircross SUV Hybrid (PHEV), plus the introduction of Dispatch and Relay battery electric vehicles (BEV).

Citroën UK media site: https://www.media.stellantis.com/uk-en/citroen - @CitroenUK

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