DS4 gets high

This is the Citroen DS High Rider, a concept that previews the production DS4 - a posher, taller version of Citroen's C4, expected to go on sale early next year. Have a click through our gallery to find out all about the car that'll take the fight to the Mini Countryman.

The DS High Rider will be officially unveiled at the Geneva show early next month. Though billed as a concept, it is closely based on the C4 hatchback, though features more radical styling - anyone else seeing more than a hint of that bizarre Revolte concept in the front end? - and, importantly, a raised ride height and driving position.

Both that big front end and the higher driving position will make it unchanged to the production DS4, a car we're expecting to see on the road in early 2011. It should sprout a couple of rear doors by the time it reaches production, however, making it a genuine rival for the Mini Countryman. Like the Countryman, it should - at some point - be available with the option of four-wheel drive: expect a system similar to the 3008 hybrid, with a petrol engine driving the front wheels and electric motors at the rear.

The DS4 will be the second model in Citroen's premium ‘DS' range, following the DS3 hatch - a car that James May gets to grips with in the March issue of Top Gear magazine, on sale on February 24. But where the DS3 is billed as a sportier, sharper alternative to the C3, the DS4 will sit above the related C4 as a more refined, luxo-cruisey version. Expect a baffling array of colour choices and ‘personalisation options'.

We'll get a better look at the DS High Rider in Geneva. With a DS5 - yep, that's a posher C5 - expected to round off the DS range late next year, Citroen will be hoping for a good reaction to its latest posh product...