Retro revivals are so hot right now, with Ford launching a reborn Capri, Renault working on a brand new Twingo and now Citroën is set to follow suit with an electric reincarnation of one of its most iconic cars: the 2CV.
French automaker Citroën first launched the 2CV way back in the late 1940s and in the years since it’s garnered a cult status around the world thanks to its ties to the Tour De France, its starring role in “For Your Eyes Only” and the fact that Citroën produced millions of these plucky little cars.
The company is now reportedly working on a “back to basics” reinvention of the Citroën 2CV, reports Autocar, which would see the iconic model revived as an all-electric city car. We’re still in the very early stages of a revival of the 2CV, with “preliminary design work” now kicking off in France, as Autocar adds:
Speaking to Autocar at this year’s Brussels motor show, Citroën design boss Pierre Leclercq would not be drawn into publicly confirming the new 2CV, but he said the brand is “not closing the door” on retro designs.
He said: “The things you remember from Citroën is not especially that you want to redo the shape of the vehicles that have been good. But we’re not closing the door. But I think the philosophy is important.”
As implied by Leclercq’s comment about the significance of the underlying ethos, simplicity and affordability will surely be key considerations during the development of the new 2CV. The original was billed as the minimum viable product required to bring mobility to the wider population in rural, post-war France.
This time around, the focus of the new 2CV will be to bring electric mobility to the wider population. To do this, the new car could endeavor to cut costs and focus on efficiency over performance in order to make EVs more affordable for more people, Autocar adds.
It sounds like Citroën will stay true to the original with the revived 2CV, rather than taking the Ford approach of strapping an iconic name onto a new SUV. As such, the company is working on “other bodystyles” for its next-generation EVs, which could include the 2CV, as TopGear adds:
But will Citroën branch out to other bodystyles that aren’t just variations on the SUV theme after launching the new C3 Aircross, the updated C4 and C4 X and a new C5 Aircross in 2025? “Yes, absolutely,” says Koskas.
“One of the brand pillars is to be daring. Look at the Ami. And the new C3 stands out compared to a small hatch. But yes, in the future we want to have new shapes.”
With the Capri back on the road, the Twingo coming soon and news of a new 2CV in the works, are there any other retro icons that are ripe for an EV reinvention? We rounded up a few great contenders right here.