Citroën Hybrid-Monster Concept
Concept CarsPosted by Alexander Dramountanis Sat, March 19, 2011 23:57:54The biggest surprise for me at the Geneva motor show this year was, as I have mentioned in the previous post, the Citroën Metropolis. It surprised me because while all the other brands showed off their latest smallest hybrids and electrical cars, Citroën had the guts to show us an enormous saloon car. And it is literally enormous, with a length of 5.3 meters it is longer than the BMW 7 series, the Rolls Royce Phantom and almost any luxury car on the market today.
One thing that’s not that surprising about this car is that it is going to be built in China for the Chinese market. I have mentioned earlier that the Chinese demand bigger and longer luxury cars to be driven around in. And if I was a Chinese businessman I would surely go for the Metropolis instead of the mainstream German Rivals.
It’s not only for show this car then, it is actually going to be built. It will have a V6 engine accompanied by a 40kW electrical engine, which in total gives it V8 power according to Citroën. So this means that it will be able to drive a few miles in the city without any emissions. This means that it actually is a hybrid like the rest of them. No, not really….
The hybrid power train seems to becoming a standard from now on. It seems like everybody is trying to “keep the whole cake and eat it too” We want high performance cars with Zero emissions… is this really possible? Perhaps, but I don’t believe in selling a big shouting luxury car with a hybrid engine. The sort of people that wants to recycle, reuse and drive hybrids doesn’t seem to be the same as those that want to be driven around downtown Shanghai by their chauffeur… I would much rather see big thirsty cars that stand for what they are and smaller, super-efficient, battery-driven. city cars for those that want to be environmentally friendly. You can’t keep the whole cake and eat it!
Anyway, we’ll have to wait and see if they actually manage to sell this hybrid monster saloon. The Metropolis is beautiful and crazy, just as a concept car should be. Let’s hope they keep it that way for the production car and let’s hope they put a decent engine in it to match the exterior!
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