The car, which starts at around US$30,000 (RM122,000), has an eye-catching design that looks like a mixture of a conventional hatchback and an SUV. While other compacts disappear in the crowd, the C4 is hard to overlook.
Inside, too, Citroen goes its own way and furnishes the C4 like a living room with soft and comfortable seats in front and something reminiscent of a sofa in the rear.
There are also small digital instruments, a large touchscreen, and textile decorative elements such as idiosyncratic fan nozzles, all of which makes the car stand out.
There are also plenty of practical shelves and a drawer in front of the front passenger to which a tablet can be attached.
Even though at 4.36 metres long, the C4 is at the upper end of the compact segment, room in the rear is relatively tight. The headroom is rather modest and the view is not exactly great because of the narrow windows.
However, at 380 litres the boot space is on par with the competition.
When it comes to drive options, drivers can choose between petrol, diesel, and electric. The only thing missing is all-wheel drive.
There's a three-cylinder petrol engine and a four-cylinder diesel offering a power range from 100 to 150 horsepower.
Standard fuel consumption for the diesel (eight-speed automatic) is put at 3.8 litres (CO2 emissions 100 g / km) and 4.8 litres (108 g / km) for the petrol engine (manual or automatic transmission).
For those who go for the electric option there's the e-C4, which starts at around US$42,000 (RM171,000) and looks more or less indistinguishable from the conventionally-driven C4.
The e-C4 has a 100kW/136hp motor and a 50 kW/h battery. At a public charging station the car can be charged to 80 per cent in 30 minutes and is capable of travelling 350km on a single charge.
Whether electric or conventional, the Citroen provides an extremely comfortable driving experience. With its refreshingly different design, unique ambience, and choice of power unit, the C4 looks set to provide serious competition to the Golf's dominance of the compact class.
