The real buzz of the show was certainly the Citroen C-Cactus Concept. This concept revealed on Tuesday previews two things: the identity of the C-line and 90% of what the future crossover C4-Cactus will be. This Cactus is the conclusion of a program initiated in 2007 with the first Cactus, also debuted at the IAA.
It is a basic car. Simple, sober — just the essentials. Citroen is clearly taking the direction of design simplicity, while some other brands are going different ways… Nobody is right or wrong, each has their own solution for the future.
In terms of simplicity, the first Cactus went a long way. This new concept car doesn’t go quite that far…but still…
The design demonstrates fluidity. Each line has a function. It is a very quiet and peaceful design. Frederic Duvernier, the exterior designer, uses the graphic of the original DS to design the C-pillar. Using the past to design the future without using the same silhouette…(See Beetle, Mini, Fiat 500…), what a good and fresh idea… The main innovation on the exterior is the use of a Citroen patent called AirBump. The bumper is made of a spongy material that includes air capsules that absorbs a deformation of 2cm. On the production car, to be launched in Geneva, the customer will be able to customize the Airbump with a large choice of colors. The showcar had no windows, but naturally they will be on the production car. One detail is that the rear windows will be a ‘crack open’ style instead of the typical roll down…
The Cactus shares its slim headlamp with the C4-Picasso. All graphics are very strong. The interior is very interesting. Once again it is very simple in its use of volumes. The front seat can welcome three people and is in one piece. The production car will have the same room, but with a 1/3-2/3 accommodation. To us the two display screens are a little bit strange, but they might represent the desire to give some contrast to this zen interior. Without this technological touch the look might be too simple and boring. If we listen to Jean-Pierre Ploué, the interior shown is very close to the production model…
Let’s wait! Even though Geneva is just around the corner in March…
Staying in the Daimler group, the city car arm of the German company showed the Smart FourJoy Concept which is a preview of what the next generation Forfour will be in 2014. With just 3.49m to carry four people, the FourJoy shares its platform with the next generation Renault Twingo. The FourJoy has electric drive, like most concepts on the floor…The evolution of the style is significant versus the current model, but not so much if you compare with the For-US and FourStars concepts…
The Mercedes S-Class Coupe shown on Tuesday demonstrates what the Mercedes design direction will be in the near future. With this concept, Mercedes wanted to be in between emotion and tradition. The silhouette is elegant, fluid and muscular, with the latter somewhat emphasized by the extra width in the rear… The interior reeks of luxury, featuring white leather and aluminum. There is no doubt that when Mercedes uses the right materials and color combinations (and we have seen some terrible examples of when they did not…) it is THE luxury brand.
The excellent concept introduced in Shanghai is now transformed onto the production car. Let’s say it is not what we were expecting from the press pictures and the concept preview. The concept car presented last April was massive (almost 2m wide and 1.58m height), but the production car looks quite different.It is more like a very low SUV or a raised A-Class, but the design is still very well structured and appealing. Very glamorous too…On the side view, the horizontal kind of V-shape gives a dynamic stance to the body. The front is not aggressive, but serious. If we compare with the A-Class,the wheel arches have been redesigned using a flat surface at the top. This small detail is quite important and gives a better stance to the car. The trunk seems bigger than the A-Class thanks to the redesign of the rear section. The disappointment comes from the interior, where aluminum parts are now made of.…plastic… If you are going to use plastic, just show it…especially if you are Mercedes…
Every two years, the automotive world meets at the Frankfurt auto show and every time we are always surprised by the magnitude of the event.The photo of the Mercedes hall should convince you and give you a good idea ofthe ambiance…In this report, as usual, we are trying to give you a good overview of the autoshowwe have visited. We are only going to review some of the cars debuting in Frankfurt, as this year there were so many cars revealed. This shows that the automotive industry, even if it things are not going well, tries to put its head above the water…
As you will read in the coming articles, this 65th edition of the IAA was once again very impressive, let’s say “Kolossal” — especially in terms of how big the halls are. But, it was also colossal in terms of design when you consider the number of new cars and concept vehicles that we have seen. In fact, there were so many new cars this year that we had to make a selection of those on which to comment. This is a good sign. The automotive industry is “up and running” again. And Design is the starter…
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