What is it?

Citroen has unveiled its fourth model for the Indian market. After the C5 Aircross, the C3 hatchback, and the electric eC3, the French automaker has now stepped into the three-row SUV segment with the introduction of the C3 Aircross. It will sit between the C3 and C5 Aircross and lock horns with an array of compact and mid-size SUVs.

How is it on the outside?

With the C3 and C5 Aircross in the Indian market for a fair amount of time, we are pretty familiar with the way Citroen family cars look. This one is no different. The front of the C3 Aircross gets the signature two-slat front grille with split headlamps. However, Citroen has also added fresh elements like gloss black and body-coloured inserts in the bumper, and the fog lamp housing is relatively smaller too.

It is from the side that the C3 Aircross truly outshines the C3 hatchback. With a length of 4.3 metres, the Aircross is almost 300mm longer. Furthermore, the stretched wheelbase of 2,671mm is an impressive 131mm more than the C3 and 61mm more than mid-size SUVs like the Hyundai Creta and the Kia Seltos. The Aircross is fitted with 17-inch dual-tone alloy wheels and there is generous cladding on the wheel arches and on both doors.

The posterior of the SUV has been thoroughly redesigned and the Aircross gets square wraparound tail lamps. The tailgate has been accentuated with a black stripe that runs across the width of the tailgate, whereas the lower portion of the bumper gets a silver faux plate. While Citroen has not revealed the colour options, the SUV is likely to sport several monotone and dual-tone paint schemes.

How is it on the inside?

The cabin of the Aircross follows a black and grey theme and the 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system sits atop the dashboard. The front seats are big and supportive whereas the second-row seats are 70:30 split foldable.

There are two seating layouts on offer — five- and seven-seater. The one with seven seats gets one-touch tumble function in the second row and 50:50 foldable and fully removable third-row seats. Moreover, the last row also benefits from two USB ports and cupholders.

What’s on the feature list?

The instrument cluster of the Aircross is fully digital and bigger than the one on the C3. It’s even coloured. And most importantly, it gets a tachometer. Other features on offer include electrically adjustable ORVMs, a height-adjustable driver seat, a rear wiper, and roof-mounted aircon vents with three steps fan speed for the second row.

The variant details of the C3 Aircross are yet to be revealed and we expect it to be announced in the coming months. Broadly, the SUV will be split into five-seat and seven-seat versions.

What is it powered by?

The Citroen C3 Aircross will be powered by a 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engine. It’s the same powertrain that was offered with the C3 and came mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. It remains to be seen if Citroen re-tunes this engine to churn out higher power output or continues with the existing 109bhp and 190Nm of peak torque.

What about pricing and competition?

The C3 Aircross will be launched in the second half of 2023. We expect Citroen to target the festive season and announce the prices in July-August 2023.

The C3 will rival the lower variants of the mid-size SUVs such as the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, and Skoda Kushaq. It will also be an alternative for some compact SUVs such as the Maruti Suzuki Brezza, Fronx, and Tata Nexon. The prices are estimated to range between Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 15 lakh, ex-showroom.