Next-gen Citroen C5 teased ahead of April 12 premiere

A teaser for the all-new Citroen C5 has been shown in video, which has been slated to make its official debut next week on April 12. As we’ve seen from spy images of a development unit undergoing tests, the forthcoming model will do away with the traditional sedan shape of the outgoing generation, and now take the form of a crossover.

The redesign has been a few years in the making, as Citroen said in 2018 that it would ‘revitalise’ the saloon styling of the successor to the C5 sedan. The styling cues of the CXperience concept were hinted at for an upcoming large model such as the C5, and certain elements such as the angular layout of the headlamps and tail lamps can be seen to be adapted here.

Yet to be revealed is the C5’s interior, and if the CXperience concept is something to go by, the C5 could draw from the show car in doing away with the “traditional markers” such as leather, wood and chrome in a large, comfortable car, according to then-CEO of Citroen in 2018 (now Peugeot CEO), Linda Jackson.

Image from teaser footage (left); test vehicle sighting (right)

The forthcoming crossover C5 is understood to use the EMP2 architecture that forms the basis of the Peugeot 508, which means that, like its D-segment sedan compatriot, the new C5 will be granted the use of plug-in hybrid powertrains.

Of these, the most powerful is that which powers the 508 PSE, where it produces 360 hp and 520 Nm of torque in total system output that enables the 0-100 km/h sprint in 5.2 seconds.

A more modest version is likely here, which could be the 225 hp hybrid powertrain, comprised of a 180 hp 1.6 litre PureTech petrol four-cylinder and a 110 hp electric motor. This yields an all-electric range of 50 km on the NEDC cycle in the 508 Hybrid, enabled by a 300 volt 11.8 kWh lithium-ion battery pack.

More will be known about the next-generation Citroen C5 when the sedan-turned-crossover makes its official debut next week, on April 12.