May 17, 2026
Silk, spoilers, and comment wars
Citroën metropolis concept car (2010)
Citroën’s China limo concept has fans swooning, haters fighting, and nostalgia in overdrive
TLDR: Citroën’s 2010 Metropolis concept was a flashy luxury car made in Shanghai to honor China’s rise and show off the brand’s style. Commenters are split between calling it timelessly gorgeous, mocking it as a Mazda lookalike, and using it to argue that Citroën lost its magic years ago.
Citroën dug up its 2010 Metropolis concept, a huge luxury show car created in Shanghai as a love letter to China’s booming megacities, and the internet immediately turned it into a comment-section cage match. On paper, it was all very grand: a long, sleek limousine shape, dramatic chrome, a silk-like paint finish, a plush cabin inspired by Chinese fans and string instruments, plus a plug-in hybrid setup meant to signal that Citroën could do beauty and brains. It was built for the Shanghai World Expo, and clearly meant to shout, “We take China seriously.”
But the real fireworks came from the crowd. One camp was practically fainting on the chaise lounge, declaring this 16-year-old design still better looking than most cars on the road today. Others went full French-car fan club, insisting Citroën concepts have always been on another level. Then the counterpunches landed: one commenter shrugged, “Looks like Mazda 6 to me,” which is the kind of drive-by take guaranteed to start a small online civil war.
And then came the old-school purists. For them, this wasn’t just about one pretty concept — it was another excuse to mourn the “real” Citroën, with one passionate essay arguing the brand lost its soul long ago. Add in a jab that Citroën blew the electric-car shift and is now getting beaten by Renault, and suddenly this glamorous concept became a referendum on French car history, missed opportunities, and whether stunning design means anything if the company can’t keep up.
Key Points
- •Citroën unveiled the Metropolis concept car in 2010 as a luxury concept designed as a tribute to China’s development and major cities.
- •The concept was created by Citroën’s international design team in Shanghai, which had been based there since 2008.
- •Metropolis was scheduled for display at the French pavilion during the Shanghai World’s Fair from 1 May to 31 October 2010.
- •The vehicle features a large three-box limousine design and includes Hydractive suspension and a plug-in hybrid drivetrain.
- •Citroën said China had become the world’s largest automotive market and its second biggest market, with the brand’s 2009 deliveries there rising by more than 57%.