Few cars carry the kind of affection the Citroën 2CV does. Launched in 1948 to get ordinary French families moving again after the war, it became a symbol of simple, honest, go-anywhere motoring, and it’s stuck around in people’s imaginations long after the last one rolled off the line in 1990. Now Citroën says it’s bringing the name back, and the concept it’s just revealed suggests this won’t just be a nostalgia exercise.
What’s actually been shown
The concept previews a production car due in showrooms by the end of 2028, with Citroën targeting a price from around €15,000, which works out to roughly £13,000 in the UK. That would make it one of the cheapest new cars on sale here by a wide margin.
Rather than leaning hard into retro styling, Citroën’s design team has gone for something they describe as “super-credible” rather than a costume-party throwback. Design lead Antoine Gaillot-Drevon put it plainly: “We didn’t want to do a retro or revival design.” That said, there are nods to the original, including bonnet ridges and flattened headlights, done in a crisper, more modern way.
Keeping costs down has shaped almost every decision. The concept has near-flat front and rear windscreens, exposed wipers, and a fabric roll-back roof, all features that reduce complexity and manufacturing cost rather than just looking quirky. As Gaillot-Drevon noted, rather memorably, “glass costs a lot of money,” which explains the flat screens and the compact overall size: at 3.76 metres long, it’s shorter than the original 2CV and shorter than the new Renault Twingo too, putting it in the same tiny city-car bracket as Citroën’s own Ami.
Inside, things are stripped back in the same spirit. A black bar beneath the windscreen displays key information like speed and warnings, and a single-spoke steering wheel sits in a barrel-shaped dashboard with a small e-ink screen. Some of the concept’s more playful touches, like the yellow tartan fabric and hanging lanterns, are unlikely to make it to the production car, but they say a lot about the mood Citroën is going for.
No battery size or range figures have been confirmed yet, though Citroën is aiming for the car to weigh around a tonne, which points to a modest battery rather than anything designed for long motorway trips. That fits the car’s intended purpose as a city runabout, not a motorway cruiser.
Part of something bigger
The new 2CV is tied to a proposed new “E-car” category being discussed between the EU and manufacturers, aimed at creating a simpler, cheaper class of small electric cars. If the rules land as expected, we could see a wave of genuinely affordable new EVs over the next few years, not just from Citroën. Whether these smaller, lighter cars will feel at home on UK A-roads and motorways, or what compromises on comfort and safety come with the lower price, are questions that will only be answered once real cars are on sale.
Why it matters
For anyone who’s been priced out of going electric, cars like this matter more than they might first appear. The 2CV won’t suit everyone’s needs, but a genuinely sub-£15k electric car, if Citroën can actually deliver one, would be a meaningful step toward making EVs properly accessible rather than a premium choice.
It’s still a couple of years off, so there’s no need to hold off on a decision you need to make now. But it’s a nice reminder that the EV market keeps moving, and more affordable options are on the way. If you ever want to talk through what’s available right now versus what’s worth waiting for, we’re always happy to chat.