Citroën XM

CITROËN XM the stranded fl agship

Thijs van der Zanden Julian Marsh

CIP-data Zanden, van der, T.H.J.M. Citroën XM A glorious failure Bemmel, 2022 276 pg, 22 x 24 cm ISBN 978-90-832960-0-5 Theme and keywords WGCB - Citroën (cars); History NUR : 462 Translation Julian Marsh Lay-out Thijs van der Zanden

citrovisie © 2019 - 2022 - No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted without the prior written permission of Citrovisie.

Contents Foreword

7

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Introduction Project V80 Presentation Model year 1989 en 1990 Rennes la Janais, birthplace of the XM Model year 1991 Model year 1992 Model year 1993 Accessories Model year 1994 Model year 1995 Luxury cars and work horses Model year 1996 Model year 1997 Model year 1998 Model year 1999 Model year 2000 en 2001 The XM outside France

8 10 50 60 84 93 99 123 129 134 140 156 192 195 197 200 205 207

A B C D

Evolution in detail Production figures Colours and trims Thanks and sources

237 248 252 275

Inhoud 5

David O’Connell adds: “Before working on the CX successor, we had been working on a coupé based on the BX. We did a 1/1 plaster model and though it never got off the ground, it was a great project.

Most of the sketches are from the BX coupe but I think some were targeted at the XM directly even though they are two doors.”

Also Dan Abramson of Style Avancé also remembers this early period: “Some colleagues made a modern interpretation of the DS, others continued on the CX theme. I made a proposal that looked like some kind of spaceship, inspired by the Ford Probe concept car from 1982, with shielded front wheels. Studio director Art Blakeslee selected most of the proposals for further development into scale models, but not mine.

I just had to make three quarter view renderings and airbrush 1 to 5 scale side view drawings.”

14 Project V80

Two proposals from David O’Connell for a BX coupé. Some ideas and style elements from this series of designs were reused in the first sketches for the CX successor.

Two design proposals from Maurice Perrier from Citroën’s own design team. Perrier experimented with an asymmetrical shape of the cutout around the front wheel.

Some sketch proposals from Dan Abramson from the PSA Style Avancé studio. Although Abramson was not allowed to present his design as a scale model, it was nevertheless selected by the management for further development.

Project V80 15

February and June 1985. Carl Olsen explains: “I developed this interior proposal together with Gunvan Mistry. We took a very geometric approach. The binnacle had a concave surface and looked like it was floating above the shelf. When the engine was off, it was totally black, when the engine was on ,it lit up and revealed the instruments. Notice the toggle switches cum airplanes and a heads up display. Maketing hated it and maybe they were right.”

A second proposal from Mistry from February 1985. Note the black control satellites on either side of the steering wheel.

28 Project V80

February 1985. A proposal by Michel Moreau with head-up display. Moreau also came up with these strikingly designed front seats (above), which may have been inspired by the proposal that the British agency DCA came up with (below). Martin Pemberton of DCA says: “We were approached following some early design work we did for the former Talbot brand owned by PSA. At that time they were interested in what product designers could bring to the car industry through their knowledge of emerging technologies – especially in displays and controls. We were working for PSA’s Advanced department, who asked us to design this interior. The whole steering wheel unit, including control deck, was designed to float in and out of the dashboard automatically to suit each driver’s preferred settings. There was a fly-by-wire, electronic gear stick and a built in phone and CD player to the right of the steering wheel. In the ‘glove box’ area there was a built-in personal computer.”

Project V80 29

3

Presentation All this time, the successor to the CX had gone through life under the anonymous code name Y30.

This changed in early 1988 when a name was picked by the marketing people. At a press conference on 15 December 1988, Jacques Calvet announced that the new flagship would be called Citroën XM - the first official sign of life for the new big Citroën. The name XM was derived from the names CX and SM,

The XM was big news at home and abroad.

with which Citroën wanted to emphasise that the XM was a modern link to the past. It was decided to always use the name XM in combination with the brand name Citroën, so the public would link the progressiveness, the high technological level and the quality of the XM to the entire range.

From November 1988, Citroën prepared the French dealer network for the arrival of the new model.

About 1,200 workshop supervisors and selected technicians attended two three-day courses. The same happened in the European importer branches.

Ron Panhuis of Citroën Netherlands remembers this well: “Before the XM came on the market, the mechanics had to take a kind of exam where their basic knowledge and understanding of electronics was tested. Those who scored well could take a follow-up course to be allowed to work on the XM later. However, that was a weeklong very theoretical training session in Amsterdam. Eight hours a day of theory for guys who were used to working with their hands… that was of course a bit too much.”

From March 20, 1989, it was the turn of the French sales organization to prepare for the arrival of the XM. The salespeople had to be trained to deal with customers from the higher end of the market. Since the XM was not to be launched on the market outside France until later that year, sales training for the foreign sellers was deferred until later.

In mid-March, Citroën distributed an extensive press release kit with information and photos of the XM to 15,000 European journalists. The message was embargoed for publication until 23 March1989 and from that moment the XM was front page news. The first new big Citroën in 15 years! The French weekly

50 Introduction

The salespeople were all given a booklet during their training to update their knowledge of the XM.

AutoPlus even brought forward its publication date by one day so as not to have to publish the news a day late on the 24th.

It’s odd that Citroën chose 23 March as the launch date. After the announcement of the name XM in December 1988, everyone had assumed that the official presentation would take place at the Geneva Motor Show, which opened its doors on 9 March 1989. However, to everyone’s surprise, there were still CXs on the Citroën stand. A miss: after all, the XM was ready to go at that time and the next show of interest was not until September in Frankfurt by which time the XM would already be old news.

In addition, stable mate Peugeot would present its new top model 605 with which the XM had to share the limelight in Frankfurt. However, Jacques Calvet seems to have personally decided to keep the XM away from the Geneva show, and to launch the XM and 605 more or less simultaneously, to give both models equal opportunities.

Shortly after the presentation of the XM, the production of its predecessor was stopped: on March 28, 1989, the last CX rolled off the assembly line. Because there was no XM break yet, the CX break was continued, although production was moved for logistical reasons to coachbuilder Heuliez in Cerizay, where the BX estate was also built.

Introduction 51

4

Model year 1989 and 1990 A first look at the XM showed a car with a unique and unmistakable identity. The design was in no way reminiscent of any other car. In profile, the high window line, with an upwards kink on the rear door, gave the XM its own style.

This was also a nod to the Citroën SM of 1970, which had just such a kink in the window line. The sharply sloping nose with the small grille and shallow headlights immediately demonstrated the excellent aerodynamics - Citroën had managed (depending on the version) to achieve a low Cd value of between 0.28 and 0.30. The headlamps were developed by Valéo, who created a complex system with reflectors to generate a high light output with a shallow lamp - something that in practice did not work as well as it might. The nose of the XM consisted of a single piece and was therefore also somewhat reminiscent of the front of the SM. On the short, high back, the dark coloured panel that contained the indicators and reversing lights stood out. You could only see the lamps when they were on. The roof seemed to float on a ring of glass because the side windows were not visibly interrupted by pillars. A nice detail was also the dark grey strip between the bonnet and the windscreen that optically connected the two exterior mirrors.

60 Model year 1989 and 1990

However, the appearance of the XM also sparked criticism. Weren’t the flanks too baroque, with all those lines and so many window pillars? Wasn’t the XM a much too radical break from the pure, soft lines of the Traction, the DS and the CX? Wasn’t the style extravagant rather than original?

And with such a streamlined design, why weren’t the windscreen wipers hidden below the bonnet edge and why weren’t the door handles recessed?

Here you can clearly see that the roof was optically carried by a ring of glass.

Model year 1989 and 1990 61

Awards

The XM was awarded numerous awards after its introduction. Undoubtedly the most important was the election of the car as Car of the Year 1990, by a jury of 57 motoring journalists from 17 different countries. With 390 points, the XM won convincingly against the numbers two (Mercedes SL, 215 points) and three (Ford Fiesta, 214 points). The prize was awarded in Stockholm on 9 January 1990. Citroën made mention of the important prize on almost all communications, including business cards and postmarks.

November 1989 Goldene Lenkrad in the class above 2200 cc, Germany Tow Car of the Year (XM V6), UK 1990 Car of the Year, Europe December 1989 Flocon d’Or for the best technical innovation, France Car of the new era, Finland January 1990 Auto Europa 1990, Italy February 1990 La plus belle voiture de l’année, France Car of the Year, Northern Ireland Autostilo, award for best design, Spain Klaxon d’Or for best suspension system, Belgium Klaxon d’Or for best car of the year, Belgium March 1990 AFPA, award for the best technical innovation

78 Model year 1989 and 1990

September 1990 Car of the Year in the hatchback category, Austria Autocaravanning award, Italy Gold Medal Herbstmesse, Germany Grand prix public des Innovations for the hydractive suspension system, France November 1990 Tow Car of the Year (XM diesel), Great Britain January1991 Automotive Innovation Award, Portugal March 1991

Best Import Car, Germany

Lots of attention for the XM being voted Car of the Year 1990.

In November 1989, the XM won the Goldene Lenkrad in the over 2200 cc class.

From September Citroën produced a number of export versions that differed from the French models in terms of engine. For example, Austria, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland received models that met the US83 emissions standard: the two-litre injection had a catalytic converter and produced 122 bhp and the two-litre carburettor version was replaced by a version with monopoint injection and a catalytic converter producing 110 bhp. The V6 also got a catalytic converter, but this had no adverse effect on the power.

Italy, Spain, Belgium and Great Britain, on the other hand, did not set any environmental requirements, so in these countries Citroën supplied the XM without a catalytic converter. Although not initially announced, these ‘dirty’ models were also delivered in France. Finally, a version of the XM Turbo D12 was introduced in some countries, equipped with an EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) system that re-routed exhaust gases into the engine for lower nitrogen emissions.

From December 1989, a so-called ‘long’ gearbox was available on the XM Séduction as a free option. Thanks to this box, which had different ratios, and a different tyre size (175/70 R15 MXL), this XM no longer fell into the French 9cv tax class, but into the cheaper 7cv category. Due to the modified box, the top speed was 1 km/h (0.6 mph) lower and the fuel consumption slightly better. The long gearbox could not be ordered in combination with the optional alloy wheels.

A proud Jacques Calvet shows the Car of the Year trophy. Jury member Stig Bjorklund on the left and jury chairman Edouard Seidler on the right.

Model year 1989 and 1990 79

5

Rennes la Janais birthplace of the XM

Unlike the CX, which was produced in the Parisian suburb of Aulnay-sous-Bois, the Citroën factory in Rennes la Janais in Brittany was where the XM rolled off the production line. Former PR director of Citroën Netherlands, Erik Verhaest, explains: “Due to the many strikes at the Aulnay factory, the quality level of the CX was sometimes poor. The arrival of the improved CX series 2 in 1985 changed little. The news that its successor would be built in Rennes 84 Rennes la Janais, birthplace of the XM

was therefore received with positive excitement.” In preparation for the arrival of the XM, Citroën had invested heavily in the factory: 650 million francs in the buildings, 1.25 billion in a completely new paint shop and 1.2 billion in the sheet metal shop and assembly line. In addition, some 460,000 hours of training was provided to staff over a three-year period. Many of the new machines in the production line were designed and built by Citroën itself.

The assembly of the body from individual pieces of sheet metal was fully automated for the XM.

The bare bodies were immersed in a cataphoresis bath to better protect the steel against rust.

Just like the BXs and AXs which were also produced in Rennes, the life of every XM began in the sheet metal shop, where some 300 employees worked in multiple shifts. About a thousand tonnes of steel was processed in the factory every day. Loose sheets were cut from heavy rolls and formed into body parts in seven large presses. For about half an hour, 250 to 300 pieces of each part were produced, after which the moulds in the presses were changed so that a different part could be made. The larger parts were produced in Rennes itself whilesmall parts came from the Citroën factory in Saint-Ouen. The body of the XM was made up of 345 different metal parts, of which the bottom plate was by far the largest.

Unlike the BX, which was made in separate subassemblies that were later put together into one body, the XM’s 335 kg (0.33 ton) body was assembled in one go. On the production line, robots had taken

over the work: no human hand was involved in any part of the process anymore. With the help of 190 robots and 103 programmable machines, the body, which required 3950 welding points, was put together. This was done with hitherto unprecedented accuracy: with the CX the possible deviation was a maximum of 4 mm (0.16 in) in total; with the BX this was reduced to 2 mm (0.08 in) and with the XM the tolerance was still a maximum of half a millimetre (0.02 in) thanks to the robots.

The welded bodies were then washed and degreased.

Almost half of the bodywork was treated with zinc phosphate and more than a quarter was galvanised.

To reach the inside of the hollow parts, the body was immersed in a bath during these treatments.

Rust had always been the Achilles heel of the CX and therefore Citroën took a big step forward in the

Citroën had invested a lot in the paint shop in the Rennes factory. In 1989 the degree of automation and the way in which dust particles were kept out made this paint shop the most modern in Europe. Incidentally, human hands were still involved applying the finishing touches to the painting.

Rennes la Janais, birthplace of the XM 85

11

Model year 1995 In June 1994, Citroën presented the considerably redesigned XM: the Xm - with a lowercase M from now on. Both the interior and exterior were modernized, there were new equipment levels, two new engines, and a number of under-the-bonnet, technical improvements.

The updated Xm had a new modernised front end, with a new bumper, different indicators and fog lights, and a larger grille in which the chevrons were placed centrally. This central logo, by the way, was also found on the ZX and Xantia as of the 1995 model year - the AX and Evasion already had it in the middle

140 Model year 1995

of the nose. This brought some uniformity to the line-up. By the way, Citroën informed dealers that it was possible to fit the new front on an old XM without any problems - handy for a hard-to-sell second-hand car! On left-hand drive cars, the headlights were modified and the (quickly discolouring) plastic glasses in the lamp units were gone. Righthand drive cars were fitted with the old lights until the end of production. The housings of the exterior mirrors were more rounded and the plastic strip that optically connected the two mirrors was now provided with a recess that accommodated two new, less high-set wipers.

From model year 1995, XM was written as Xm.

Subtle changes to the front and rear characterised the 1995 models. The breaks were not modified at the rear.

In addition, the new mirrors improved the view from the driver’s seat, particularly in the passenger side mirror, thereby eliminating a drawback of the first series XMs. Both the mirrors and the connecting strip were now painted in the body colour, which somewhat lost the original intention: the connection between the two mirrors was originally a visual counterpart to the kick-up in the window line of the rear door. The repeater indicators on the front wings were changed and at the rear, a new wiper, a different name badge and a more subtle spoiler stood out - an improvement over the rather big one with which the first series XMs were equipped.

The rims were fitted with newly designed hubcaps, except for the top model Exclusive, which was on alloy wheels as standard.

In the interior, the completely redesigned dashboard, which in terms of shape was inspired by the dashboard from the successful Xantia.

Model year 1995 141

12

Luxury cars and work horses Cars for stars

After De Gaulle survived an assassination attempt in 1962 thanks to his DS, the president (and many of his senior officials) travelled almost exclusively in Citroëns. That remained the case under De Gaulle’s successors (although Giscard d’Estaing often drove a Peugeot 604) until Mitterrand came to power in 1981. As a socialist, he deliberately opted for a car from state-owned Renault. However, that did not mean that Mitterrand was not interested in Citroën, quite the contrary. On March 16, 1989, a few days before the official presentation of the XM, a car was secretly taken to the garden behind the Élysée Palace in a closed truck. The XM was unloaded behind white cloths that were not removed until Mitterrand ap-

peared for what we today would call a sneak preview.

Together with Jacques Calvet, the president then drove the XM through the park for a bit. Although Mitterrand initially remained loyal to Renault, he did later switch to an XM. From 1993 there were a few in use at the Élysée, including an extended one, and when Mitterrand left the Élysée on 17 May 1995 after his resignation, he did so in an Xm. Images that went all over the world and which Citroën even used for advertising. Mitterrand’s successor Chirac drove a CX Prestige privately, but switched to an Xm V6.24 after his appointment as president. The Xms in the Élysée would remain in use until about 2000.

156 Luxury cars and work horses

Although President Mitterrand liked Renaults, XMs were also in the presidential fleet in the 1990s, including this one which the president drove away from the Élysée in after his resignation.

Citroën made good use of this moment in an advertisement.

©

X - all rights reserved

In order to raise the profile of the XM, Citroën regularly offered the organisers of prestigious cultural or sporting events some XMs for the transport of VIPs. This happened for the first time soon after the introduction: during the Roland Garros tennis tournament, which started on May 29, 1989, forty XMs were used as VIP shuttles. XMs were also regularly lent to TV and film makers to increase awareness: think of the famous chase scene from the film Ronin or the various XMs in the French series Navarro, which were released from 1991 to 2000, the service cars belonged to commissioner Navarro.

At the beginning of 1990, an XM V6 was used as a pace car on the Zandvoort circuit in the Netherlands where it attracted a lot of media attention as well.

The organisation of Roland Garros (who run the French open tennis tournament) had the scoop: in May 1989 40 brand new XMs could be used for the transport of VIPS.

Commissioner Navarro’s XM.

The famous chase scene in the movie Ronin. For the nice shots a modern Xm was used, for the rough stunt work they took this type 1.

Luxury cars and work horses 157

the cargo area to prevent the occupants from being crushed by the sliding cargo in an emergency stop.

The huge tailgate extended from the bumper to the edge of the roof and contained the entire tail light section of the XM saloon. Compared to Pijpops’ cars, Tissier’s creations looked better: clearly an effort was made to adopt something of the lines of the front end into the rear body. In total, Tissier built about 25 grand volume XMs. They also delivered some examples where the polyester rear body had been replaced by a large platform, so that these XMs could serve as car transporters or mobile camera cars.

The superlative: the Tissier XM van.

Do not expect state-of-the-art or automated facilities at Tissier: both the factory and the production process exude a certain nonchalance.

178 178 Luxury Luxurycars carsand andwork workhorses horses

Luxury cars and work horses 179

North and South America The United States Although Citroën withdrew from the US in the early 1970s, the idea of a return was regularly mooted: US versions of the CX and GS were examined in the mid 1970s, while in the late 1970s and early 1980s an American BX was looked at. A few years later it was the turn of the XM. It was already clear from the outset of the development of the XM that the car should also be able to be sold in the US without major modifications. In 1986 some prototypes were built. Initially, a European XM equipped with slightly different bumpers and different lighting was the basis for this. Citroën hoped to be able to sell 20,000 to 30,000 of these in the US through a network of 100 to 120 exclusively Citroën dealers - so no other

230 The XM outside France

brands in the showroom. The exchange rate between the franc and the dollar was calculated as an acceptable risk, but whether the design of the XM would match American tastes was not certain. Therefore, in December 1986 a three-day test was conducted in Los Angeles where American consumers were asked for their opinion about the new model. An XM prototype, stripped of all possible references to Citroën, was shown next to a Saab 9000, a Mercedes 190, a Volvo 740, a BMW 5-series and an Audi 200.

Carl Olsen, head of Citroën’s design department, recalls: “The car did very poorly in the US clinic. The Mercedes and BMW were by far the favourites. The test showed that traditional sedans dominated the

The XM for the American market was initially only equipped with different bumpers and lamps.

In December 1986 this prototype was ready. Note how a C-pillar has been visually created by applying a grey strip to the front of the rear side window.

Light grey predominated in the interior. The single-spoke steering wheel was not popular, so it was later replaced by a black three-spoke steering wheel.

The XM outside France 231

citrovisie

The Citroën XM had the almost impossible task of following in the footsteps of the legendary Traction, DS and CX. Initially, the XM seemed the perfect car for this: the sharply drawn, streamlined body was really something special and the XM was also full of technical innovations. The XM obvviously won the ‘Car Of The Year 1990’ award.

The first customers however rapidly experienced the downside of so much innovation: their XMs broke down with all kinds of malfunctions. By the time Citroën had finally solved those problems, the car’s reputation had been damaged beyond repair. The XM was doomed to an existence on the margins.

In this book, author Thijs van der Zanden tells the fascinating story behind the XM. From the first sketches and prototypes to its introduction, the first models and all the variants Citroën added to the range over the years. The XM’s that never got beyond the drawing board are also covered in this book. Memories and anecdotes from various people involved enliven the story and the numerous illustrations (much of them have never been published before) make this book a must for the real enthusiast.