Citroen sure knows how to capture attention at these auto shows, don't they?

Remember Paris in 2008? Yeah, that's when Citroen unveiled the GT by Citroen concept. This year, at the Geneva Motor Show, the French automaker is at it again, this time bringing the aggressively neoned up Survolt concept. It features the same design language as the GT, but taken to a more compact dimension. And if the GT made it to production - only six have been made at $1.8 million a pop - we're pretty confident that somewhere down the road, we'll see a production version of the Survolt too.

The concept's front is defined by the same large oval-shaped grille, slim, horizontal head lamps with LED lamps. The rear features the elegant light signature of the Citroen Revolte together with a spoiler in a timely and essential reference to motor sport, all of which were made through the use of a combination of chrome and aluminum.

Although Citroen is still withholding further details surrounding the Survolt, it is expected that the concept will be powered by an electric drive-train.

UPDATE 07/07/2010: Citroen has announced that the Survolt will indeed make an appearance that’s not in an auto expo showroom, but rather at the Le Mans Classic on July 10. You read that right; the Survolt is getting prepped for its racing debut. Vanina Ickx, daughter of former racing ace Jacky Ickx, will drive the electric vehicle.

Citroen has also finally given us the inner workings of the Survolt, including the concept’s technical specs. The car measures at 3.85m long, 1.87.m wide, and 1.2m high and weighs in at just 1,150 kg. It comes with a tubular chassis, a flat underside with an extractor, and full carbon bodywork. As for capabilities, the Survolt can produce a 0-60 mph time of just a shade under five seconds with a top speed of 162 mph.

Updated 07/13/2010: Citroen today unveiled images with the electric concept at the Le Mans circuit, where the Survolt made its first laps. The concept's driver, Vanina Ickx, said: "I am very happy to participate in this unique project. On the track, I had a very good sensation. It's a real race car, with a very promising potential for the future."

UPDATE 07/23/2010: Citroen has now unveiled the Survolt's laps around the legendary LeMans circuit! Check it out by clicking on the picture above!

Press release after the jump.

2010 Citroen Survolt

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2010 Citroen Survolt
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array

Press release

Survolt is the continuation of CITROËN’S exploration of distinctive and original electric vehicles, initiated with the Revolte concept car revealed at last year’s Frankfurt Motor Show. Survolt turns received notions on their heads through its radically new vision in a consummate blend of high-fashion glamour and extravagance with motor-racing punch. 

The desire to overcome one’s limits, take things further, dare and create is written in CITROËN’S DNA. Breaking with convention, shaking up the rules, shifting borders and surprising continuously is the passionate quest and leitmotiv of a brand that over its 90-year history has never ceased to develop innovative objects ahead of their time. Survolt is one of these. It takes the genetic material of Revolte and adds an extroverted sports dimension to the mix.

Like a luxury accessory that transcends an outfit, Survolt is CITROËN’S answer to an automotive universe that all too often seems morose. Survolt casts aside protocol and transgresses existing codes to initiate a new kind of stylish, sporty and elegant supermini. Bucking current trends and pointing to the future of sleek coupés, it unites elegance, glamour and sporting passion, sublimating this last quality with its electric drivetrain.

Innovative and sensual


With its compact dimensions – 3.85 m long, 1.87 m wide and 1.20 m high – Survolt reappropriates sports car styling cues to form an all-new and revolutionary concept.

At the front, the distinctive vehicle badge reigns elegantly above the large oval-shaped grille, its centre home to the striking double chevron. The car’s “look” – charming and profound at the same time – attracts and holds the viewer’s gaze with a promise of transgressions suddenly made possible. Its slim, horizontal head lamps, inspired by high-performance sports coupés, exert a magnetic appeal, while an LED light signature adds a contemporary, high-tech touch.

Survolt was made to gobble up the miles and glide over roads. Low-slung and sleek, it features strong contrasts between the voluptuous bonnet and generous, sculpted flanks, highlighted by emphatic wheel arches that promise performance and thrills.

Survolt’s air-slicing, flowing design is heavy on excitement and sensuality. It conveys agility, precision and vitality, barely containing a powerful, well-defined musculature under refined and luxurious wraps. The rear features the elegant light signature of Revolte together with a spoiler in an essential reference to motor sport.

Survolt is innovative and powerful but also knows how to turn on the charm, revealing its finest assets to catwalk in motor sports arenas. It features two-tone paint, hues of fuchsia and charcoal grey, and plays with materials and volumes. The curves shift from satin-smooth to shiny, breaking definitively with the classic masculine codes of the sports world. Survolt continues the work begun with Revolte by once again blending two universes with contrasting appearances. Survolt eschews decorum to create its own styling language.

The inclusion of materials such as chrome and aluminium inevitably recall the spheres of luxury goods and motor sport.  Survolt is a perfect combination between high fashion and car racing, a unique alliance with the same philosophy and the same cues as Revolte, namely performance, cutting-edge technology and excellence. 

Elegantly sporty


Survolt’s cockpit is designed like a floating cell, a glass setting held between chrome-finished roll bars like some magnificent piece of jewellery. The leitmotiv with Survolt is to transgress the conventions of the luxury world and combine them elegantly with those of the sporting world. 

The cabin was imagined as a cross between two worlds that by their essence are opposed. This union begets an organic universe, both flowing and technical, from which the driver’s station springs forth. The interior as a whole was designed to bring the two occupants comfort and refinement, triggering singular pleasure and an outstanding experience.

The car’s generous glazed area brings light and a sensation of space, light years from that offered by today’s sports cars.

Transcendent power and excitement


Ahead of its time, Survolt captivates with its innovative, environment-friendly technology. Like Revolte, Survolt is powered by electricity, thus combining sports performance with environmental respect and sustainable development. Still particularly rare in the racing world, this technological solution also embodies a previously unthinkable alliance. But CITROËN dares and creates, transgressing conventions to better sublimate them. With irreproachable ecological credentials, the drivetrain blends driving pleasure, thrills, performance and vitality, and all in extreme comfort, since the car is silent in operation. 

CITROËN is proposing a new automotive vision with Survolt, in a move that is entirely consistent with its 90-year history as an innovative brand focused on creativity and technology.