Production of the Citroën C4 Cactus is being ramped up in order to keep up with demand.
Speaking to Autocar, Citroën boss Linda Jackson said the car has been a great success for the brand, and now the French firm wants to "be even more ambitous" with its sales targets.
"Cactus is doing very well," said Jackson. "First of all the car was only going to be a European vehicle, and that would have been very much the tradition - France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. We set the initial sales volume at 70,000. Since we launched in June last year, we have sold just over 74,000 Cactus models."
Citroën already increased production of the C4 Cactus at its Madrid factory back in April to cope with demand, and is now aiming to sell 90-100,000 Cactus units annually worldwide.
Key to continuing the Cactus's growth is opening the car up to new markets. Already on sale in Europe, Citroën has confirmed the Cactus will now be sold in Australia and could be sold in China in the future.
"When we first had the concept, the Chinese said it was too different for them, too modern," said Jackson "Then last year at the Beijing motor show the Chinese said: 'We’ve got to have it, we’ve got to have it…' So in four years, tastes have changed and the Chinese market has evolved and yes, we are studying whether it might be possible to take it into China and other markets across southeast Asia.
"We believe we've got a great vehicle. It is a success, but now we want to push it more with some more ambitous targets. This shows the spirit of where we want Citroën to go - it's about being modern, vibrant, young at heart and having the feel-good factor that comes with having a great car to drive."
Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that so far in 2015, the firm has sold 4629 Cactus units in the UK.
David Evans
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Citroen is supposed to be the
That seems to be what 'upmarket' customers want.
The C4 Cactus is a good design though, it's main fault being that it doesn't tolerate desaturated colours very well. The inevitable silver or grey colour choice of so many UK motorists means many on the road don't look as nice as they could.
The blue
I saw one in the bright blue/turquoise the other day... looked absolutely fantastic. As does the yellow. Any other car and these wouldn't be quite as successful. Similarly the Fiat Multipla looked great in the more outrageous colours.