2009 Frankfurt Auto Show: Citroen Revolte

FRANKFURT, Germany — "We needed to do something striking for Frankfurt," says Citroën advanced design boss Carlo Bonzanigo, ''or we would have been eaten up." That something is the plug-in hybrid Revolte, debuting at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show. The hybrid also represents, he says, "a revolution against the economic depression" and a statement to manufacturers who didn't come to Frankfurt.

Citroën fans will instantly see what Bonzanigo calls the ''graphic quotation" from the famed 2CV, the French "people's car" and once a very popular car in Germany. However, he emphasizes, "this is absolutely not a retro 2CV." Those who love the eccentric tin snail that is the 2CV will be disappointed to hear that there are no production plans for the Revolte, but its plug-in hybrid powertrain will appear in another car.

Up front is a brand-new engine, currently under development, of undisclosed size and fuel type, and at the rear there's a single electric motor. The future model will join a plug-in hybrid DS5, slated to come out in 2011, and a DS4 set for 2010.

Besides the 2CV, other sources of inspiration for the Revolte were Parisian fashion, women's jewelry boxes and cosmetics — and the plush velvet interior trim echoes that of theatre armchairs. The Revolte seats three adults; a baby can be accommodated, too, in a rear-facing front passenger seat.

Inside Line says: Citroën is fast rediscovering its creative energy, which is now extending to drivetrains as well as style. — Richard Bremner, Correspondent