Why Citroen hasn't got a GT model?

[giorgos21]

I mean,Citroen won so many WRC championships and now won the first 2 races in WTCC in it's debute.
It is a very successful company in motorsports,but never released a true sport car like impreza/evo.
Weird right?

 

[Liquid]

Citroen is a member of Peugeot-Citroen PSA.

Neither brand has ever been interested in sports cars or performance cars, for whatever reason. And this is despite success in international motorsports. Citroen in rallying and Peugeot in rallying, world sportscars, Formula 1 and European touring cars.

It could be a cost thing, it could be a cultural thing. Name French sports cars and thanks to GT we can name Venturi and Alpine but that's pretty much it. Certainly no mass manufacturers, because Renault is roughly of the same mindset.

 

[giorgos21]

Well, maybe they could make this

look something like this

Ok not exactly like this...

 

[RocZX]

I mean,Citroen won so many WRC championships and now won the first 2 races in WTCC in it's debute.
It is a very successful company in motorsports,but never released a true sport car like impreza/evo.
Weird right?

They have the DS3 Racing, which is some what like WRX/Evo.

Also they had the GT concept car which means they are interested in making sports cars.

Citroen is a member of Peugeot-Citroen PSA.

Neither brand has ever been interested in sports cars or performance cars, for whatever reason.
.

Peugeot has the RCZ which is a sports car.

 

[Liquid]

They have the DS3 Racing, which is some what like WRX/Evo.

Also they had the GT concept car which means they are interested in making sports cars.

Until they make the GT for real, it's just mental masturbation. Considering the DS3 is a compact car, I'd consider the Racing to be a hot hatch. Certainly not a sports car.

Peugeot has the RCZ which is a sports car.

This one slipped my mind, truth be told. More of a chintzy coupe than a pure sports car in my opinion, but I guess it's 'sporty'. Still, the fact that they didn't start making it until 2010 shows that PSA in its rough history of 120 years has had very few high performance or sports cars roll out of their factories until quite recently.

 

[giorgos21]

The DS3 Racing has 207 hp so it's not in the subaru/evo class.
The RCZ has the power ,but i'm saying that with all this heritage from racing,they should have a hardcore 300hp model.
Seems logic to me.

 

[Murcie_LP640]

The French have always been about hot hatches and quirky, underpowered but very stylish coupes, not the average 4-door saloon with a socking great turbocharger next to the engine.

The DSx Racing vehicles are all Citroen needs really.

 

[Bo]

This is actually quite interesting. You would expect with the rate at which the PSA group is aiming for dominance in motorsport, they would have thought about a premium sports vehicle.

 

[RocZX]

Considering the DS3 is a compact car, I'd consider the Racing to be a hot hatch. Certainly not a sports car.

I don't consider the WRX/Evo as sports car, more of a sports sedan or performance version of a family car. And seeing that the WRX comes in hatchback form, it's a hothatch too. But that's not why I said that the DS3 Racing was the same as a WRX/Evo, I was referring to it as being the road version of the WRC car.

This one slipped my mind, truth be told. More of a chintzy coupe than a pure sports car in my opinion, but I guess it's 'sporty'. Still, the fact that they didn't start making it until 2010 shows that PSA in its rough history of 120 years has had very few high performance or sports cars roll out of their factories until quite recently.

It's more of a sports car then what other companies say are "sports cars".

The DS3 Racing has 207 hp so it's not in the subaru/evo class.

As a said above I was referring to it as being the road version of the WRC car.

 

[homeforsummer]

The DS3 Racing has 207 hp so it's not in the subaru/evo class.
The RCZ has the power ,but i'm saying that with all this heritage from racing,they should have a hardcore 300hp model.
Seems logic to me.

The RCZ-R gets close - 270-ish hp.

Having driven it, I'd even go as far as saying it's a proper sports car, front-drive or not. It's quicker and more responsive than several other performance cars I've driven and it's got the technical makeup (heavily reworked engine, floating brakes, limited slip diff etc).

I'd have thought it fairly obvious why Citroen or Peugeot hasn't produced such a vehicle yet though.

Doing so is quite expensive and the possible market fairly limited - given neither company really has the image to carry off such a thing. Though you wonder with Peugeot, as apparently the RCZ-R is doing quite well despite costing more than some of Audi's TT models.

For the C4 saloon in particular, that model doesn't have a sporty reputation in the slightest. It just wouldn't appeal to enough enthusiasts to be worth doing. And Citroen and Peugeot's previous WRC models are even further from reality - engineering a road-going AWD rally beast is much more difficult and expensive, and none of PSA's platforms are really set up for such a thing. It's different for someone like Subaru, since an Impreza has AWD and a boxer engine anyway, so slapping a turbo on there and tweaking the suspension is little bother. That, and Subaru still has a more consistent rallying heritage than either PSA brand.

 

[Bo]

RCZ GT4 anyone?

 

[Azure Flare]

Until they make the GT for real, it's just mental masturbation.

I know just where to put this gem...

 

[Clark]

It's not weird it's just good sense, much in the way the C6 didn't sell well, or any expensive car doesn't sell well (even in France), nobody who's spending that amount of money will buy a 'non-premium' brand. Even if they're good cars they won't have the reputation or the residuals.

Much in the same way people will buy loads of VWs but the Phaeton never sold because it was at Merc S class and 7 series money. Every brand has it's sort of successful price bracket.

 

[Bo]

Hmmm... what about Ford's Vignale then? Will that have success?

 

[Clark]

Ford's do well a lot of the time by offering better performance and spec level for the price. For example the Focus and Fiesta ST sell really well against stuff like Polo and Golf GTIs as they're so much better value for money and us Brits have a soft spot for Fords.

But if the Vignale is going to be a more prestigious, small luxury car to compete with the 3 series/a4/c class etc. I can't see it doing that well.

 

[Tyger]

Widening the net to French sports cars in general, there have been a few oddball offerings in the last few years. The Renault Sport Spider was nifty, but rare as hen's teeth. PGO make love-em-or-hate-em sports cars based on the Porsche 356 (you can even see one if you look around the Arc de Triomphe in Google Street View, well last time i checked anyway). Venturi make an electric coupe called the, erm, Fétish.

Still, would love to see one of Citroen or Peugeot's many sports concepts to make production in some form or other one day. Would also love to see a new Alpine, though not sure about the concept that was knocking around a year or two ago, I would prefer something a little more svelte, and chic

 

[chzsln485]

I think there's been a bit of a resurgence in sporty cars from Peugeot. They've made the pretty but slightly soft RCZ into the rather good RCZ-R, there are plans for a new 308R, and the new 208 GTi is apparently quite good (if a little less focussed than its rival, the Fiesta ST).

Sadly, while Peugeot have given with one hand, Renault seem to have taken away with the other, and indeed, seem to have lost the plot. The new Clio RS is really odd, with its weird paddle gearbox and gimmicky engine audio system - I do hope this isn't a precedent for future RenaultSport cars.

 

[TheCracker]

Citroen and Peugeot make cars predominantly for the domestic market, like most US manufacturers do. If the French market isn't asking for a sports car, they'll not bother going to great cost to develop one. I think I'm right in saying that the vast majority of French hot hatches made are sold to Britain, so maybe the French just aren't bothered by 'sporty' cars?

 

[Tornado]

Isn't it against the law in France to do things that could be considered fun anyway?

 

[TheCracker]

French kissing?

 

[homeforsummer]

Citroen and Peugeot make cars predominantly for the domestic market, like most US manufacturers do. If the French market isn't asking for a sports car, they'll not bother going to great cost to develop one. I think I'm right in saying that the vast majority of French hot hatches made are sold to Britain, so maybe the French just aren't bothered by 'sporty' cars?

Certainly when I've visited, most cars appear to be as basic as they can get away with. I'm not at all surprised that Dacia has done so well there - they're just the modern interpretations of cars like the 2CV.

That said, when the French companies do put their minds to it they really do make some cracking performance cars. The RCZ-R is one of the most entertaining (and well set-up) cars I've driven since starting this job. And the 208 GTI is great too.