The last Citroën C6 has rolled off the line after seven years of production at PSA’s Rennes-la-Jannais factory in north-west France.
This big sedan, which sold in only small numbers (fewer than 600 so far this year), had been previewed by the C6 Lineage concept from the Geneva motor show in March 1999. The C6 then had its debut at the 2005 Geneva show and went on sale across Europe later that year.
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While the Peugeot brand no longer competes in the E-premium segment, PSA might well be planning to give Citroën one more chance at reinventing its long heritage of big luxury cars. A new model, reportedly to be called DS9, is expected to be launched during 2013.
The supposed successor model to the C6 is likely to have styling similar to the Numéro 9, a concept which premiered at the Beijing motor show in April 2012. This followed another design study, the Metropolis, which was created especially for France’s pavilion at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai.
While it would seem hard to make a business case for the DS9, reports in the Chinese media have nonetheless claimed that such a model will be manufactured at a forthcoming Changan PSA (CAPSA) joint venture plant in Shenzhen. This JV is separate to PSA’s existing alliance with Dongfeng Motor and should centre on DS series cars and light commercials.
Author: Glenn Brooks
