The campaign kicked off this month with the public debut of Citroen’s make-or-break C5 Aircross medium SUV at the Bastille Revolution in the Rocks festival in Sydney.

Alongside the latest model was a classic 2CV and visitors were encouraged to enter a competition by guessing how many toy cars representing Citroen’s illustrious back catalogue had been crammed into a glass jar.

Key to delivering a consistent feel to these impromptu events is Citroen’s La Maison corporate identity, which is being rolled out across its network of more than 30 Australian dealerships to create a concession-like area within Peugeot showrooms.

The Australian take on La Maison is an adaptation of Citroen’s European shopping mall pop-up concept which, for the first time anywhere in the world, incorporates both Peugeot and Citroen under a shared frontage. Inside Citroen’s La Maison will have a distinct presence, displaying one or two Citroen models under the same roof as Peugeot’s more traditional showroom space.

La Maison can also be used in other locations.

Newly appointed Peugeot Citroen Australia (PCA) general manager of marketing Kate Gillis told GoAutoNews Premium that La Maison is built from a kit that can be “dropped into places that you’d least expect Citroen to turn up”.

“For example, it could be a festival or event or during summer holidays down at Bondi … it’s got to be a place where we can talk to customers or prospects in the environment where they’d least expect to see the car,” she said.

“The 30-plus pinpoint audience that we’re going after quite frankly aren’t that familiar with Citroen. So we’ve got quite a lot of work to do around telling the story that talks about the history and that gives it a really good balance in terms of the modernity as well as the simplicity of the range.”

Ms Gillis added that the “warm, convivial, personal and relaxed” style of public interaction at Citroen’s public appearances would be carried through to the dealership experience.

“When you visit the dealer, you’re seeing it (La Maison) again and not the usual shiny tiles, glass and quite stiff experience,” she said.

An extension of this is Citroen’s decision to celebrate its centenary at the 10th annual Motorclassica motor show in Melbourne this October.

Inside the Royal Exhibition Building will be a display of historic Citroens from the past 100 years, while La Maison will make an appearance outside the Motorclassica venue offering test drives of the C3 light car, C3 Aircross small SUV and new C5 Aircross.

Among the iconic Citroens to be showcased at Motorclassica will be a 1923 5CV, representing the first vehicle to circumnavigate mainland Australia. Others will include the 2CV, DS, CX, Mehari, SM and C6.

PCA Australia PR and corporate affairs manager Tyson Bowen told GoAutoNews Premium that a large number of cars were “coming out of the woodwork” now that word of the Citroen’s participation in Motorclassica had spread among the French car community.

In a statement, PCA managing director Ben Farlow described Motorclassica as “the ideal opportunity for us to celebrate a centenary of innovation while providing us with the opportunity to connect with enthusiasts via our latest vehicles”.

“While not all can be revealed yet, there will be a few surprises in store for Citroen fans and car enthusiasts attending Motorclassica.”

PCA staff remain tight-lipped on the mooted surprises in store for Motorclassica, but it is possible that one of Citroen’s recent concept cars – such as the 19_19 luxury tourer or pod-like Ami One city car – could make an appearance in order to demonstrate the brand’s past, present and future in one setting.

By Haitham Razagui