CITROEN C3 Picasso (2009)

Citroën C3 Picasso, the new baby-MPV, will be making its first public debut at next month's Paris Motor Show, before a UK launch in 2009. The Citroën C3 Picasso will be the third Citroën to join the Company's award-winning Picasso family.

Far from the average MPV, the Citroën C3 Picasso's 'magic box' charm lies in the way it is both compact and spacious and also brings together many other opposing qualities - strength and comfort, quality and affordability, performance and economy, contemporary and retro design, square shapes and flowing curves and, significantly, style and practicality.

The new Citroën C3 Picasso offers class-leading space, intelligent and quirky design, modular seat layout, intuitive storage solutions, dynamic engines co-developed with BMW, and all the comfort, technology and safety you'd expect of a Citroën MPV. It will also fit comfortably alongside the Citroën Xsara Picasso and Citroën C4 Picasso within Citroën's - 2008's best selling MPV brand in Europe - portfolio.

Bursting forth from the ordinary with its unique, cheeky, character, bubbly personality and charming good looks, the Citroën C3 Picasso benefits from a new direction in body design, blending the roomy, versatile shapes of an MPV with the quality, agility and comfort of an SUV and at the same time, challenging the preconceived notions of the compact MPV segment.

Small outside, big inside
Citroën's celebrated range of family cars is renowned for providing occupants with generous levels of space and the Citroën C3 Picasso is no exception. Measuring 4.08m long, 1.73m wide and 1.62m tall, the car's striking cube-like body shape, with short front end and vertical rear, creates an expansive space in the cabin whilst smooth, rounded curves soften the contours and give the car a happy appearance - an expression further exemplified by the impish grin of its 'smiling headlamps'.

With the Picasso's intuitive modular design, interior space is optimised quickly and simply. To increase either boot volume or rear legroom the split-folding rear seats slide back and forth independently and can also be folded away with one effortless hand movement. This function provides an entirely flat load surface which extends right up to the front seatbacks and can be further extended - to over 2.41m - by folding the back of the front passenger seat completely down.

Unrivalled in its roominess, the cabin length measures 1.66m - one of the longest in its class and a rival for a number of MPVs in the segment above. Knee room is plentiful even with the rear bench moved forward and by using slim seat backs and bases on the front seats, rear passengers are afforded even more space. Elbow room in the front and rear is 1.43m and 1.40m respectively, another best for the segment.