It was built to the new World Rally Car regulations for 2011, which were based upon the existing Super 2000 regulations, but is powered by a turbocharged 1.6-litre engine rather than the normally aspirated 2-litre engine found in Super 2000 cars.

Development work on the car was carried out during 2010 by Citroën drivers Sébastien Loeb, Dani Sordo, Sébastien Ogier and test driver Philippe Bugalski, as well as sister Peugeot drivers Kris Meeke[3] and Stéphane Sarrazin.

For example, the WRC 1.6-litre turbocharged direct-injection engine has been slightly modified dropping the power from 220 kW (300 hp) to 205 kW (275 hp), visually the bumper intakes are smaller and the rear spoiler complies with the S2000 standards.

The other significant change concerns the brakes in tarmac configuration: the diameter of the discs has been reduced from 355 to 350 mm and the water-cooling system has been removed.

[5] At the 2016 Rally Finland, Kris Meeke established a new record for the fastest FIA WRC round in history, with a 126.60 km/h average speed.