Virtual Sports Car to be Built by Citroën

By Malcolm Ong

I still remember the day when I first laid my hands on the NES – Nintendo’s 8-bit video game console and the best-selling gaming console of its time – back in 1985, playing now-classics, such as Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros. And I remember logging hours upon hours on my Sony PlayStation playing automotive games like Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo, immersing myself with everything car-related far before I was even legally allowed to drive. Fast forward to the day I was shopping for my first car; you can bet that I had flashbacks of the car models I “owned” in Gran Turismo.

I am part of the first generation to grow up with video games; a demographic often referred to as Generation Y and, more specifically, the Video Game Generation. This population segment represents more than 75 million 17- to 28-year-old prospective car buyers who will be buying one out of every four new vehicles in the U.S. by 2010. It’s no surprise that automakers have begun to collaborate with Polyphony Digital and other game development studios to try to capture this market, as evidenced by the design and strategy behind Nissan’s R35 Skyline GT-R.

Earlier this month Citroën confirmed plans to build the Citroën GT, officially called the GTbyCITROËN, a two-seater originally created for the Gran Turismo 5 racing simulator for the PlayStation 3.

At the 2008 Paris Motor Show, Citroën announced its plans to build a supercar that was originally designed for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. And this is coming from the first mass-production car company, outside of the U.S. The details aren’t yet clear, but insiders claim that only six are going to be produced worldwide. To be unveiled at the Frankfurt Auto Show this September, the final version will be significantly influenced by the in-game concept, potentially including a carbon fiber body, copper interior highlights, gullwing doors and a mid-engine two-seater chassis with a $2.1 million price tag.

This halo vehicle will showcase Citroën’s design capabilities and evoke the kind of ride that Gen-Y used to dream of: a “cool” car that stimulates emotion.

So why does this matter and what does this mean for automakers and marketers? Deloitte recently conducted a survey, Connecting with Gen Y: Making Cars Cool Again,  that found that exterior styling, affordability and being environmentally friendly were the top three attributes that made a vehicle “cool.” Gen-Y wants a wide array of customizable options -– just like what can be done in video games –- and a need for more technology and connectivity, such as in-vehicle Wi-Fi.

Some brands are already a step ahead of Citroën and are on the right track. Brands like Toyota’s Scion and BMW’s Mini have started to respond to many of Gen-Y’s attributes with the ability to custom-order a car in great detail. Ford’s Sync system, developed with Microsoft, is another example of an initiative to integrate music, phone and entertainment in Ford cars to cater to the always-on lifestyle.

Gen-Y is here, and automakers need to either engage and embrace this audience, or be faced with a threat to survive. And until then, I will be sizing up my next car purchase on Gran Turismo 5.

Related articles:

• Citroen Confirms $2 Million GT Supercar; New York Times, 07.14.09
• Connecting with Gen Y: Making Cars Cool Again; Deloitte, 02.01.09

Image credit:
GT Concept photo appears courtesy of Citroën

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