Features
Haute culture
The C6 is the Gallic shrug of French design - intelligent, elegant and not in the least bit troubled by what you make of it
Want to know what makes the Citroen C6 great? Cool, let's go to France! Want to know why, in all too many ways, it's a bit flaky? Erm, the same journey will cover it. You can learn so much about cars by ferreting around in the cultural history of the nation that designed them, but none more so than with France's big cars because, quite simply, they just do not globalise.
You can spot a 5-Series or E-Class at any busy intersection in Tokyo, Cape Town, Moscow, LA, NY or WC1. But not a Citroen. Yes, the French bourgeoisie might love them dearly, but the rest of the planet stays quietly baffled.
Even so, don't make the mistake of thinking the Germans build their big saloons to suit the rest of the world. Oh no, they're easily as insular as the French. The only thing Audi, BMW and Mercedes ever did to please America or Asia was to fit cupholders. These guys succeeded on the world stage because they built cars for southern German conditions.
They have a conservative, prosperous local population who want staid-looking four-doors with a design that evolves slowly over the generations, and they're prepared to pay for solid engineering too. They have fast, twisty autobahns, so they need good high-speed manners. Put that lot into a car and it will immediately look like it's worth a price premium.
'The only thing Audi, BMW and Mercedes ever did to please America or Asia was to fit cupholders'
So Audi, 'Benz and BMW became prestige cars all over the world not by brilliant global brand management, but by keeping an eye on the local market and local competition. For them, short-sightedness has paid huge dividends.
French conditions and French culture, on the other hand, have done big French cars corresponding harm. Part of it is due to the roads, which used to be pretty lousy in France, and that favoured ride over handling.
Nowadays, though, everyone wants hard suspension and huge wheels, handing the advantage to BMW. Another part of it is the politics of France, and specifically the egalité component that was enshrined during the revolution.
For decades, big-engined cars have been kneed in the groin by the punative tax system, especially big-engined petrol cars. For the whole of that period until about five minutes ago, nobody else in the world wanted a small-engined diesel luxury car. As a result, the French car makers didn't get the return on investment needed to develop world-class large barges.
Citroen C6 Car Reviews
Citroen
Citroen C6
Bookmark with:
What are these?