Citroën Invents A Cardboard SUV

The transformation to Clown World is now complete.

If there’s one thing in the auto industry we can always count on, the French make weird cars. That’s why we weren’t completely shocked to learn Citroën made a concept SUV which sports a cardboard hood and roof. While that’s certainly weird, the reason for creating such a thing is even weirder.

Jay Leno keeps telling us who he really is, just like here, but why won’t we listen?

Supposedly, the Citroën Oli concept was dreamt up as an exercise in how automakers would build cars in a world without resources. No, we’re not making this up. The French and countless journalists praising this concept car think cardboard isn’t made of any resources, like it’s something that’s just in the air, even though it would still be a resource if it were.

As you might have guessed, this isn’t the kind of cardboard used to ship your Amazon purchases. That stuff gets a little bit of rain on it and starts collapsing, but this cardboard has to resist the elements and a whole lot more. Instead, this cardboard is configured like a honeycomb and sports a plastic coating on the outside and inside.

We know what you’re thinking: doesn’t plastic come from petroleum? Well, some plastic does, but the majority is made using natural gas. The point is that if the world truly have zero resources, where would the plastic come from? Plus, cardboard is made of paper pulp, which comes from trees, so how would that work if Earth were a blight with absolutely no resources? Would there even be a planet if no resources were present on it?

Citroën hopes you don’t ask these deep questions and instead are just entertained by their whacky concept. It is curious how some are positing this could be a way to cut down on the use of steel right at a time when steel plants are struggling amid skyrocketing energy prices in the West. Keep in mind many modern car roofs and hoods aren’t even made of steel, but we don’t expect the average corporate journalist would understand that. Instead, they’re just praising the Citroën Oli for being strong and brave.

Images via Citroën