Citroen has confirmed that the next-generation C4 and C4 Cactus will become a single model.

The company’s product boss, Xavier Peugeot, recently confirmed to Autocar that the French manufacturer is streamlining its product line-up after a request from PSA Group boss Carlos Tavares.

“We needed to reduce our line-up to eight silhouettes so one of these models had to go. The C4 and C4 Cactus are converging into one,” Peugeot said.

Due to the demand for SUVs, the future Peugeot family will only consist of a single compact non-SUV model and it won’t be the C4, leaving the C4 Cactus to carry on solo in the next generation.

According to Peugeot, the C4 Cactus is more appropriate for the brand than the slow-selling C4.

“It was a choice to go for C4 Cactus. It is more in line with Citroen positioning. We want to position ourselves differently [to other brands] and the C4 Cactus was the stronger basis to do it.”

Development of the next-generation C4 Cactus has already commenced. Few details about the new model are known but the automaker admitted it will look less SUV-like than the current model.

“We needed to remove some of the SUV markers on it because it became too much like the C3 Aircross.

“We wanted to tone down the SUV elements and make it more like a hatchback. But our research shows people interested in crossovers are also interested in this car, too,” Peugeot concluded.