Citroën Évolue

Problem / Brief

A response to the growing tension between car ownership cycles and personal identity. The Évolue proposes that a car's exterior is not fixed at the point of purchase but is the beginning of an ongoing relationship between object and owner. Why does a car have to look the same on the day you sell it as the day you bought it?

Research

References came from modular product design, fashion customisation culture, and Citroën's own democratic design heritage. The body form was developed to accommodate maximum panel flexibility while maintaining a coherent base silhouette.

Iterations

The modular system was designed around a fixed structural tub, with all exterior-facing panels engineered as interchangeable units sharing common fixing points. The challenge was ensuring that every panel combination — across bumpers, doors, fender flares and skirts — produces a visually coherent result without requiring redesign of adjacent components. Each configuration uses identical fixing points and shared panel geometry: the visual language shifts dramatically while the engineering remains constant.

Outcome

Design features: interchangeable panels, shared components, reduced manufacturing cost, personalisation options. Four user personas anchor the range — the weekend escapist, the visual creator, the urban athlete, and the coastal adventurer — each reconfiguring the same modular base to fit a different life.