Citroen C3

A look at the strange, clever, and wonderful little details on French cars.

These are the three we'd take home from Paris, if we could.

C3 WRC concept looks incredible and could lead to a road-legal hot hatch.

Crossovers are the name of the game at the Sao Paulo Motor Show this year, with numerous European and Japanese automakers using the occasion of Latin America's largest auto show to showcase new high-riding concepts. This latest example comes from Citroën.

At its flagship showroom on the swank Avenue des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Citroën revealed the new C3-XR. The compact crossover joins the C3 range alongside the five-door hatch and C3 Picasso minivan, but is targeted specifically at the Chinese market.

Citroën took advantage of this week's election of a new Pope to promote its clean diesel initiatives. The advertisement in the video below shows one determined Citroën engineer as he climbs atop the Vatican to take care of a pesky black smoke problem. After he works his magic, the famous chimney starts puffing out white sm

As promised, Citroën has brought along its new C3 to Geneva this year, with high hopes that the hatchback will be a strong competitor versus the hegemony of Golf in the European compact market. (And a worsening market, at that.)

The Citroën C3 gets a facelift and a premiere at the Geneva Motor Show next month. Visually, the little hatch with the mammoth "Zenith" windscreen has been reworked with a grille sporting less chrome, LED running lights and sleeker chevron logos. At the rear are new taillight clusters, reflectors under the rear bumpers and the option of a reversing camera. Ink Blue gets added to the exterior color p

Clever. The air hybrid powertrain that Citroen will be bringing to the Geneva Motor Show next month is nicknamed N-Air-Gy. Or, at least, that's what it says in the rendering that Citroen released today in preparation for the Swiss event. We've heard about this technology before, with the hint that it might some day go into one

Following yesterday's introduction of the C7 Corvette that shows the car's future, Chevrolet has released a slew of images celebrating 60 years of the car's past. First introduced in 1953, the Corvette has evolved into a global sports car that is likely to be the star of this

Some may look at a utilitarian vehicle like the Citroën C3 Picasso and wonder why bother sprucing it up, but Citroën begs to differ. After launching the Blackcherry edition just over a year ago, the French auto

Citroën has inadvertently given back-seat drivers a powerful weapon. Well, not so much back-seat drivers... but the person in shotgun has the ability to bring everything to a screeching halt. Front-seat passengers are able to engage the brakes of the C3 Picasso.

While it may seem like every magazine worth its bar-code is clamoring to select its own Car of the Year, over in Europe things are a bit more civilized. Seven publications from seven different countries get together each year to nominate their collective Car of the Year, speaking in one united voice.

Citroën C3 Picasso Blackcherry – Click above for high-res image

Citroen C3 Visiodrive commercial – Click above to watch video

2010 Citroen C3 - click above for high res image gallery