Citroën has revealed a tiny, innovative six-seat family car that aims to prove that "the return of the MPV is absolutely not boring".
Called the ELO – its name taken from the second letters of rest, play and work – the radical new concept shows how car interiors can be reinvented to offer impressive levels of space and flexibility in a compact footprint.
At 4.1 metres long, the ELO is shorter than even Citroën's current C3 city car, but has room for one more passenger and even has a back seat as wide as that in the flagship C5 Aircross SUV.
Unwrapping the show car at Citroën's Paris HQ, company boss Xavier Chardon hailed it as a statement of intent for how the brand plans to challenge the established conventions of car design as it moves into a new era.
"Everybody thought that the MPV would be dead because they have SUVs," he said, adding that such cars are generally perceived to be "cooler, fresher, younger..."
But Citroën, he added, "is shaping habits and coming with new entrants" which aim to serve as alternatives to SUVs and crossovers, with smaller footprints but similarly practical and roomy cabins - as demonstrated by the ELO.
"It is the perfect manifesto for how life can feel better with Citroën."
That sentiment was echoed by head designer Pierre Leclerc, who said the ELO follows in the footsteps of the legendary 2CV people's car – and latterly the diminutive Ami city car – in using a novel interior concept to "create an incredible lifestyle".
"All the studies show us that people want their car as a third place to live, because they want freedom but also privacy," he said.
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Very interesting car, but there's still one thing I don't understand (that also applies to many recent production models): what advantage can a square steering wheel offer over a round one?
This is exactly the kind of car I've been after for years since the SUV craze killed off reasonably sized MPVs.
I did have my eye on one the the Stellantis van-based people carriers like the Citroen Berlingo or Vauxhall Combo Life, but then they stopped making the ICE versions, choosing to only offer EV versions with poor 200-ish mile ranges for silly money over the previous ICE versions (akthough the 1.2 petrol version had a dodgy wet-belt design so I wouldn't have bought that anyway). They also stopped making the shorter wheelbase 7 seater versions, and you can only buy the XL longer versions with 7 seats in basic trim! They seem determined to not sell these cars!
So this new car will hopefully reach production and kick off a new MPV trend with other manufacturers - the Japanese have their Kei cars which make really good, affordable and surprisingly practical camper vans that we don't get so we need something similar asap!
It even looks a bit like the tank from Aliens from the side view - hopefully it comes in military green to complete the look :D