CITROEN pulled off one of the biggest surprises of the show by finally revealing the car that is to replace its long-running Saxo supermini.

Even though company officials insisted the centre-piece of their display was just a concept for a new small sports car, Fleet NewsNet understands the C2 (pictured) is the vehicle set to take over as the French firm's entry-level model.

When it reaches the showrooms in Britain in October, the attractive three-door car will complete the line-up of models that have been winning Citroen a greater presence in the fleet and business sectors in the last two years.

Citroen UK national fleet sales manager James Parfett said: 'Despite approaching its seventh birthday, the Saxo is still accounting for a total of more than 30,000 registrations and playing an important role in our business.

'Getting a completely new small model would boost our strength and be a particular help expanding our activities in the public utility, hire and courtesy car sectors. We see this as an area with the potential for strong growth. Having another new product alongside the C3 and the C3 Pluriel we will launch in June would allow us to field an unrivalled choice at the lower end of the user-chooser market and contribute to our efforts to build on the 53,000 fleet registrations we achieved last year.'

Boldly-styled and featuring Fiesta-type squared headlamps, the C2 show car stood on 17-inch alloy wheels and is fitted with a 1.6-litre engine tuned to develop 225bhp. It also has a six-speed sequential gearbox.

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