People have spoken out and want SUVs.
The love affair that was once between Europeans with the multi-purpose vehicle has become a distant memory. Automakers have had to adapt their product lines to meet the changing market trends, as SUVs have overtaken them. Citroen does not go so far as to claim that the SUV killed the MPV, but it does say that changing expectations regarding modernity and style have driven customers away from the MPV. The company with the doublechevron has decided to leave the European market after nearly 30 years of selling MPVs. Production of the Grand C4 SpaceTourer is set to end in July. Since 1994, Citroen has sold a multi-purpose vehicle. It introduced the Evasion and then gave it a facelift in 1998. It was sold up to 2002 and racked up more than 120,000 units. In 2002, the larger C8 was introduced. It remained in production for 12 years and was finally retired in June 2014. 150,000 units had been sold. The Xsara Picasso was the vehicle that made the MPV market explode. It sold 180,000 vehicles in its first year of sales in 1999. This model was kept by the French automaker until 2012 and sold a staggering 1.76 million units.
The Grand C4 SpaceTourer, pictured here, traces its roots back to 2006 when the original C4 Picasso launched. In 2013, the second-generation model was introduced. It featured split headlights, which were not popular. It changed its name to C4 SpaceTourer at the start of 2018. This also affected the larger version, dubbed Grand C4 SpaceTourer. In 2020, the shorter model with five seats ceased to exist. Now the time is right for the seven-seat MPV. Citroen’s 2007 MPV demand record was a success, with 115,000 Xsara Picassos moving and 215,000 C4 Picassos. Family haulers are not done yet as the SpaceTourer and Berlingo commercial vans still exist, with their electric powertrains.