Citroen C5 Aircross will go on sale before the end of 2020 and will be heavily localised in India
Recently, Groupe PSA announced its re-entry into India with Citroen being at the forefront of operations. The 100-year-old French company has a prominent presence in the European car market and its wide range of vehicles suiting different types of customers has led Groupe PSA to choose it over the already familiar Peugeot.
Groupe PSA is planning to venture into new markets outside Europe and thus after a long hiatus Peugeot will be entering the United States. The second largest European carmaker has India as one of its core countries of business to drive volumes in the near future and the vast production facility in Tamil Nadu will also cater to export markets.
Citroen’s first product for India will be the C5 Aircross as it targets premium SUV space with high localisation levels. To be successful in India, Citroen believes local production holds the key and the C5 Aircross is expected to be positioned aggressively against rivals such as Jeep Compass, Mahindra XUV500, Tata Harrier, MG Hector and co.
Citroen has its YouTube channel for India running for about a month now and only yesterday the main TVC regarding its domestic operations was published. With key personnel across different departments talking through, it’s easy to see Citroen wanting to have a customer-centric operation in India and emphasises digitization like personalising the cars online.
The C5 Aircross will go on sale before the end of next year and it will be followed by one new product every year between 2021 and 2023 and they will be manufactured and launched in India before exported to the rest of the world. Late last year, Groupe PSA inaugurated its engine and transmission plant in Hosur with initial capacity of two lakh and three lakh units per year.
Boasted as the “comfort class SUV”, the C5 Aircross comes with features like keyless entry and start, wireless charging, Citroen connect navigation, EAT8 automatic transmission, extended traffic sign recognition and recommendation, connected cam, highway driver assist, fully digital instrument cluster, three independent rear seats, twenty driving aids and progressive hydraulic cushion suspension.
The intelligent beam headlights have camera built into the windscreen and the system switches between main beam and dipped headlights depending on the traffic and lighting conditions. With the progressive hydraulic cushion suspension, the energy is dissipated in the form of heat and thus progressively absorbing the movement of the car giving a comfy ride.