New Citroën C4 review

From TikTok dances to the ice bucket challenge, social media loves trends – but it's rare that two combine successfully. However, the Citroën C4 we're reviewing here is giving it a shot by merging a couple of car trends in one model.

Let us explain... The C4 began life as a family car before making the transition to a small SUV in 2020 (or 2014 if you count the C4 Cactus). But as well as switching car class to follow what’s popular, it also adopted a sloping coupé-inspired roofline. You rarely see that on a small SUV: the coupé SUV trend was pioneered by the much bigger – and pricier – BMW X6.

Speaking of price, the C4 undercuts many of its own rivals, including the Mazda CX-30, the Skoda Kamiq and the VW Taigo. Plus, it's had a facelift for 2025, so it looks a little different at the front and rear, and has gained new infotainment software and Citroën’s Advanced Comfort Seats.

Is all of that enough to keep the Citroën C4 competitive against the best small SUVs or should you choose one of its rivals instead? Read on to find out...

The Citroën C4 is available with a choice of three 1.2-litre petrol engines, starting with a regular hybrid called the Hybrid 100. It has a modest 99bhp but feels punchy enough, and can run on electric power for short bursts in town or when you’re cruising. 

The next engine up, the PureTech 130 – which doesn't have hybrid tech – has 128bhp, so it feels a touch stronger. At the top of the range is the 134bhp Hybrid 136, which feels on a par with the 128bhp option but regains hybrid tech for better fuel economy.

You can also get an all-electric version – to find out about that see our Citroën ë-C4 review.

You’ll find quicker small SUVs out there – the Ford Puma for example – but the C4 doesn't generally feel lacking in power, although the standard automatic gearbox can be a bit slow to respond at times, dulling the performance.

Every C4 is fitted with Advanced Comfort Suspension and Citroën makes some bold claims about the comfort it affords you. The good news is that there’s substance to go with them.

The suspension leans definitely on the softer side, allowing it to glide over minor imperfections in the road surface and cushion you from most ruts and potholes. It’s only when you come across something with a really sharp edge that you feel a sudden thwack.

The C4 doesn’t isolate you from the movements of the suspension as well as the VW Taigo and even on seemingly smooth roads you experience a constant, but very light, fidgeting sensation.

While Citroën has made comfort a priority, sportiness has taken a back seat, and the C4 feels quite lax in the handling department. It’s not particularly agile and body lean is more pronounced than in most small SUVs.

That said, the C4 feels nippy enough around town and its steering, though not full of feel, allows you to place the car on the road with a suitable amount of confidence.

For a sharper drive, there are many better alternatives. The Hyundai Bayon is one, but the best in class option is the Ford Puma.

Despite having only three-cylinders, the C4's engines are fairly smooth operators. They only feel a tad gruff low down in the rev range and only becomes vocal when worked hard.

On the move, there’s very little wind or road noise, making the C4 a more relaxing motorway companion than noisier, firmer-riding rivals – the Toyota Yaris Cross for example. 

"The Citroën C4 is properly comfy. My passengers really appreciated that, especially around town, where the roads are particularly poor. It's quiet, too, although I didn't find it much fun to drive." – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

You sit lower down in the Citroën C4 than in most SUVs – although higher up than in a BMW X2 or family cars such as the VW Golf.

Meanwhile, the new Advanced Comfort Seats are, indeed, comfy, with a good amount of padding. You really can get comfortable and enjoy long journeys in them. We do wish they had more side support, though, because they don’t hold you in place on twisty, country roads particularly well.

The C4 has physical knobs and buttons for controlling the air conditioning. That makes it much easier to adjust the temperature when you're driving than it is in car models that have air-con controls on the infotainment touchscreen. If you go for Plus trim, you get a head-up display that projects your speed into your line of sight.

Seeing out of the front of the C4 at junctions is easy enough, but the same can’t be said for the view out of the back. As with most cars with coupé-like rooflines, the rear window is quite small. Not helping matters is the rear spoiler that runs across it.

Fortunately, all C4s come with rear parking sensors. Plus and Max trims add front parking sensors and a rear-view camera. A 360-degree camera is available as an option on Max trim.

All trims get automatic wipers and bright automatic LED headlights to increase visibility at night.

All C4s have a 10in infotainment touchscreen mounted high up in the middle of the dashboard. It's not as user-friendly as the rotary controllers fitted to the BMW X2 and Mazda CX-30 but it has a more intuitive operating system than the screen in the Toyota C-HR.

You get a long list of infotainment features, including DAB radio, Bluetooth and voice control, while the presence of Android Auto and Apple CarPlay means you can run your phone’s apps on the car’s screen. That’s good because the entry-level You! trim doesn't get sat-nav.

The C4 feels plush in places, with some squidgy materials used on the doors, armrests and dashboard. There are, though, plenty of scratchy grey plastics – as you might expect from a more budget-friendly option.

Build quality is mixed, with some pieces of trim feeling solid and others (namely around the glovebox) rather flimsy. On the whole, it feels slightly more premium than the interior of the Hyundai Bayon but not as well built. For a truly excellent interior, look to the Mazda CX-30.

"It initially looks a little grey inside, but you soon realise that the Citroën C4 uses some soft-touch materials, which I found rather pleasing to the touch. I also love that there are physical controls for the air-con." – Steve Huntingford, Editor

The Citroën C4 isn’t particularly spacious up front and certainly doesn’t feel as roomy as the interior dimension figures would suggest. Your close proximity to the windscreen pillars can leave you feeling a little hemmed in, although six-footers fit easily enough.

There are some thoughtful storage touches, including a dedicated area for your smartphone. All the trims except entry-level You! get a tray that slides out of the passenger’s side of the dashboard so you can clip a tablet computer to it.

Two adults will fit in the back of the C4 with plenty of room for their feet beneath the front seats, but there isn’t that much leg room. Likewise, owing to that stylish roofline, head room is tight for six-footers. The coupé-styled VW Taigo has much more space in the back.

Shoulder room in the back of the C4 becomes tight if you add a middle passenger, and there’s a good chance they will have to duck due to the slightly raised seat.

If you regularly transport a full load of passengers, you’ll likely be better off looking at a more traditionally styled small SUV such as the Skoda Kamiq.

The C4’s rear seats don’t do anything clever, such as sliding or reclining. You can fold down the 60/40 split backrests by pulling levers next to the outer rear head restraints.

Once dropped, the backrests lie virtually flat, leaving you with a more or less uninterrupted load floor all the way to the front seats.

The C4 has a 380-litre boot, which was big enough to take five carry-on suitcases when we tested it. For comparison, the Nissan Juke and Toyota C-HR each took six.

The Peugeot 408, the Renault Arkana and the VW Taigo all have bigger boots, with more than 400 litres of storage. More positively, the C4's boot floor is height adjustable, with only a small lip to lift luggage over when it’s in its highest position.

"There was enough space in the Citroën C4 for me plus three adult passengers, but because of the car's coupé styling my rear passengers had their heads brushing the roof." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Most SUVs with coupé styling have premium badges – and premium prices. The Citroën C4, though, makes that combination more affordable. The entry-level C4 costs less than a Skoda Kamiq or VW Taigo and about the same as the Hyundai Bayon.

The C4's engines are efficient, although you'll get better fuel economy behind the wheel of a Toyota Yaris Cross. The non-hybrid engine – the PureTech 130 – officially averages between 40 and 50mpg while the Hybrid 100 and Hybrid 136 manage 50 to 60mpg. 

If you're looking for a company car it's worth bearing in mind that you'll pay much less BIK tax for the all-electric Citroën ë-C4.

Despite the tempting price tag, the entry-level C4 You! comes with plenty of standard equipment, including 18in alloy wheels, electrically heated and adjusted door mirrors, cruise control, dual-zone air-conditioning, LED headlights, touchscreen infotainment and rear parking sensors. We’d save the money and stick to that trim.

Upgrading to Plus trim adds a larger driver’s display (from 5in to 7in), a head-up display, sat-nav, and keyless entry and start.

Top-spec Max gets electrically operated and heated front seats and a heated steering wheel.

The C4 did not feature in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey but Citroën as a brand placed seventh out of 31 manufacturers – an impressive, confidence-inspiring result. It ranked above Ford and Skoda but was beaten by Suzuki and Toyota.

Citroën currently offers a three-year/60,000-mile warranty and a 12-year anti-perforation warranty. That’s fairly standard, and doesn’t come close to Hyundai’s five-year/unlimited-mileage warranty or Toyota’s warranty, which lasts up to 10 years if you service your car regularly at an official centre.

The C4 scored four stars out of five for safety when it was tested by Euro NCAP. It’s disappointing that it didn’t score the full five stars, but it at least proved pretty good at protecting adults in the front and children in the back. It was mainly let down by its so-so ability to protect vulnerable road users outside the vehicle.

The list of standard safety equipment includes automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-keeping assist and speed-limit information. Plus trim upgrade the AEB system to one that can detect cyclists, while Max trim adds blind-spot monitoring.

"There's no doubting the attractive pricing of the Citroën C4 and I was pretty impressed by the amount of standard equipment. Plus, it won't cost a fortune to run." – Will Nightingale, Reviews Editor