The Citroen 2CV is set to return as a cheap £13k electric car within the next two years and it’s been officially confirmed by Citroen boss Xavier Chardon at the annual Stellantis investor day in the US. 

The aim of the event is mainly to keep banks and pension funds chirpy about all the money they’ve got locked in the world’s fourth biggest carmaker, but there were plenty of enticing snippets about upcoming cars from the many brands within the Stellantis family. 

Chardon said that the entire Citroen range would be renewed before 2030, before launching into a tease of a new version of the 2CV that is set to channel the spirit of the original, which sought to upgrade the horses and carts still being used by French farmers in the 1930s. 

Whether the new version will be able to cross a ploughed field with eggs on the seat remains to be seen. 

A brief teaser video was shown to the audience, starting with two horses galloping through central Paris (but no traffic) – the 2CV name is deux chevaux in French, or two horses, and refers to the French taxation system at the time that taxed horsepower levels based on a complicated formula.

A dark shot of the new 2CV in silhouette with its lights illuminated showed a car that sticks to the classic 2CV formula without giving any detail away on the car. Though it's not a stretch to imagine it could look much like the current version of the Ami city car.

Chardon apologised for the darkness of the picture, but announced that the actual car would be fully visible at the Paris motor show in September. 

“It’s an important moment – in 1948 the 2CV gave freedom of mobility to millions, and 80 years later the new 2CV will democratise electromobility.” Chardon said that the new 2CV would be sold below €15,000 (£13,000) and hinted that the car would be linked to Stellantis’s new e-car project. 

Citroen has long been asked about a possible return for the 2CV, but has always claimed that it’s a company that wants to look forward rather than back. 

Other Stellantis reveals

Other announcements at the investor day included new from Peugeot that two new small electric cars that will arrive before 2030 that are intended to complement the E-208 and E-3008 models. The next generation of E-208 is set to arrive in 2027. That car is set to be largely based on the Polygon concept we drove earlier this year.

Opel/Vauxhall boss Florian Huettl also announced the next generation of Corsa will be arriving within the next three years, based on Stellantis’s newly announced STLA One platform, a new global platform that will underpin dozens of its models across the world. 

​Fiat is set to get a larger version of the Topolino as well as the new e-car that was announced this week by Stellantis. That latter model is likely to be a new version of the Panda that will sit underneath the Grande version and built in Italy along with the new 2CV.