Like the similarly-priced Nissan Juke, the Cactus is a car you’ll either love or despise, with little middle ground. Also like the Juke, the Cactus sports bi-layer headlights, though unlike the Japanese car the Citroen’s detailing is perhaps a little more cohesive.
Elsewhere you’ll find pleasingly chunky proportions, a slightly raised ride height which marks it out as a crossover and some two-tone colour schemes that really help it to stand out among the legions of silver hatchbacks.
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Most noticeable of all are the expansive trim panels down the Citroen’s side. The company calls these Airbumps and as the name suggests the panels are full of small raised air-filled pouches. As well as being a styling feature they’re also designed to mitigate car park dings (there are small airbumps at all four corners, too) and protect the door edges.
They’d make even more sense if they extended further forwards and further backwards (to protect the rear door edges when kids swing them open) but it’s a neat idea that’ll find its way onto more Citroens (including the new C3) in future.
