CITROËN C4 CACTUS : THE IPOD OF THE CAR INDUSTRY
In October 2001, when the first iPod was commercialized, Apple wasn't the first company to produce MP3 players. The Korean SaeHan produced the first one in 1998. It had a flash memory, so not really relevant compared to the iPod but Archos, a French company, produced in 2000 the first MP3 player with a hard disk : the Jukebox 6000. So why didn't SaeHan and Archos become as popular as apple is today?
You will find thousands of answers... but the main one is : Steve Jobs made something complicated, simple... very simple ! Not too big, not too small and easy to use. A 'happy product' ! He also gave enough importance to details to go upmarket, to make it desirable.
It is exactly what Citroën did with the C4 Cactus. With a price from the mainstream segment, the European customer will get a cool car, equipped with the latest technologies and ready to be driven without thinking about maintenance, extra costs or city aggressions such as scratches... thanks to the AirBumps system. Fully integrated to the car design, the Airbumps should be compared to an iPod/iPad/iPhone cover. The job of the AirBumps is to protect a precious product connected to our life.
Citroën has definitely made a revolution in the car industry. Let's wait if the European market gets it.
Video : Citroën C4 Cactus