The Peugeot-Citroen-Toyota’s love child, the Citroen C1 was unveiled to the public in 2004 at the Geneva Motor Show
The joint venture’s attention was turned towards the mini segment and it was a great deal for everyone involved, sharing knowledge and costs to develop three of the most loved city cars: Citroen C1, Toyota Aygo and Peugeot 107.
For Citroen, the C1 was considered to have replaced the Citroen Saxo which was discontinued in 2004 after a lifetime of 8 years.
Citroen adopted a style with rounded headlights, extended on the sides with the turn-signals. The double-chevron chromed badge adorned its short hood, and the grille was moved to the lower side of the bumper. A black, plastic mold protected the car from small parking bumps. It was notorious how the French drivers used to make room in the parking lots by pushing other vehicles.
Inside, depending on the trim-level, the C1 featured a tachometer mounted on top of the speedometer. Citroen installed both of them on the steering column assembly. The center stack's simple layout allowed easy use of the HVAC controls—the C1 featured power windows at the front and fixed windows in the rear.
Under the hood, Toyota provided the 1.0-liter gasoline engine and PSA (Peugeot-Citroen Group) the 1.4-diesel version. Both versions were paired as standard to a 5-speed manual, while a 5-speed automated version was available as an option. The latter consisted of a manual gearbox and a computer-controlled clutch-actuator system.