The Citroën Xantia

The Citroën Xantia, pronounced 'Zan-tia' is a large family car produced by the French automaker Citroën. First seen at the end of 1992, the car was produced between 1993 and 2001, with a facelift in 1998. Citroën sold over 1.2 million Xantias during its 8 years of production. After production in Europe ended in early 2001, the SAIPA Corporation in Iran produced it (until September 2010). Penned by Bertone, the exterior styling of the Xantia was also used on the Daewoo Espero
The Xantia replaced the earlier Citroën BX and maintained the high level of popularity of that model, but brought the car more into the mainstream to compete harder with its rivals such as the Ford Mondeo, Nissan Primera, Rover 400, Toyota Carina E and Vauxhall Cavalier.

It signalled that Citroën had learned from the reception given the staid Citroën ZX, introduced two years earlier and criticised by contemporary journalists for its lack of traditional Citroën flair in engineering and design. The Xantia addressed these concerns in the facelifted Xantia.

The Xantia also used the traditional Citroën hydropneumatic suspension system pioneered in the older DS. It was initially only available as a hatchback (liftback) (Berline), but an estate (station wagon) (Break) version built by Heuliez appeared in 1995.