1977 Citroen 2cv on 2040-cars

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Citro"en helped speed up the Pope selection process a bit

Citroën took advantage of this week's election of a new Pope to promote its clean diesel initiatives. The advertisement in the video below shows one determined Citroën engineer as he climbs atop the Vatican to take care of a pesky black smoke problem. After he works his magic, the famous chimney starts puffing out white smoke instead. We would think a clean diesel would yield no smoke at all, but hey, that's just us. We will say the opportunistic commercial is at least good for a chuckle. You can check it out in the ad below.
The French automaker unveiled a number of vehicles at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this month, including the updated 2013 C3 shown below. The five door can be had with a spate of engine options, including at least four clean diesel options with power ranging from 70 to 115 ponies.

Citro?n C1 gets eyebrows... no, seriously [w/video]

Citroën has revealed its new C1 city car, marking the first full redesign of the popular hatch since it debuted way back in 2005. Set to make its global debut at next week's Geneva Motor Show, here are all the particulars on what should prove a popular offering in European markets. The C1 is essentially Citroën's version of the Toyota Aygo and Peugeot 108, both of which are set to make their own debuts in Geneva.
Available in both three and five-door versions like its predecessor, the new C1 adds a convertible-like Airscape model, which delivers an open-roof experience for budget drivers.
The exterior, meanwhile, is reminiscent of the old C1, but fresher and funkier. There's no other way to describe the secondary set of lights but as eyebrows, although that's no bad thing. This is a cute car, and among budget city cars looks count just a bit more (because there isn't much else worth bragging about, usually).

PSA Peugeot-Citro"en gets EU approval for life-line loan from France

PSA Peugeot-Citroën has been struggling to offer low finance rates to customers since its banking arm, Banque PSA Finance, had its credit score downgraded, which in turn has made it hard for the French carmaker to compete with brands that offer lower finance rates, such as Volkswagen. The French government recognized the catch-22 and, after negotiations with PSA and European Union approval, has guaranteed the banking arm seven billion euro in bonds to secure its debt and lower borrowing costs, Automotive News reports. The infusion of bonds will be spread from January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2016.
As part of the requirements for EU approval, PSA agreed to refrain from acquisitions in excess of 100 million euro per year and curb its debt levels, Automotive News reports. The EU Comission was required to approve the bond infusion before it could take place in an effort to reduce to a minimum "the damaging effects for competitors who have not received support from public funding," said Joaquin Almunia, EU Competition Commissioner.
In addition to the bonds for Banque PSA, a diesel-hybrid program will also receive 86 million euro from the French government, which was also approved by the EU Commission.