Citroen to launch green sub-brand

According to an unnamed "insider," Citroen is considering launching a separate brand just for eco-friendly vehicles. Earlier this year, the quirky French automaker announced a new high-end brand that would bring premium features to its existing vehicle platforms. Similarly, the first production vehicle under the green brand would echo the C-Cactus concept from the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2007 but be built atop the automaker's C4 platform.

Expect some innovative uses of materials, as previewed on the C-Cactus project, along with a fuel-saving powertrain of some sort. Options include going fully electric, using a hybrid powertrain or using a small three-cylinder diesel engine that would put out less than 100 g/km of carbon emissions. Sounds great, but let's just hope they don't keep too much of the melted-candle look of the concept.