• More pictures.

    Citroën has drawn back the covers on its new C5, a car designed specifically for the fleet market.

    Replacing the under-achieving current C5, the new car focuses on style, comfort and a bid by Citroën to improve its brand image, all in an effort to capture the imagination of user-choosers.

    Citroën is seeing a revival of its fleet fortunes thanks to the success of the C4 Picasso, a feat it plans to replicate with the new C5.

    Ian Hughes, Citroën UK’s marketing director and also in charge of fleet operations, said he expects corporate business to make up 60% of the C5’s sales. He predicted good residual values on a par with the Volkswagen Passat and, consequently, reasonable monthly lease costs.

    “This is a car designed for the fleet market,” he said.

    Mr Hughes expects the typical fleet C5 to be a 138bhp HDi. Other engines include 127bhp 1.8 or 2.0-litre 143bhp petrols or 110bhp 1.6 HDi or 208bhp V6 HDi diesels.

    Both saloon and estate versions were unveiled in front of Europe’s press in Paris. The saloon will launch first, followed by the estate.

    Expect to see the first cars in the UK as spring approaches.

    The Citroën family face seen on the C4, C4 Picasso and C6 is replicated once again in the new car, and there are hints of the C6’s exterior design elsewhere, particularly in the saloon’s concave rear windscreen.

    The new C5 is lower than the outgoing model, with a higher shoulder line that gives it a more compact, aggressive look and, Citroën says, better driving dynamics.

    Plenty of work has been done on reducing noise in the cockpit, through improved seals and laminated glass all round.

    There’s more room inside for both front and rear occupants, while the dash has been redesigned and the touch quality of the materials improved.

    Two types of seats will be available, tweaked for either comfort or sport.

    The comfort version features a two-piece adjustable backrest, allowing a more personalised driving position.

    There are also two types of suspension available – Citroën’s Hydractive hydraulic set up, as well as a more traditional ‘metallic’ option.