Citroen C5 Aircross will likely be the first vehicle from the French brand when it debuts in India towards the end of 2021
Groupe PSA has a variety of brands under its management like Peugeot, Opel, DS and Vauxhall but it has elected to introduce the Citroen brand instead in India and the first product will be launched towards the end of 2021. Since the DS7 Crossback has already been spied testing several times locally, the suspicion of it being used as a test bed for C5 Aircross’ arrival has refused to go away as both share same platform.
Citroen, the French automaker, has been around for nearly a century and more than a million units were sold under its name last year across the globe as it is present in well over 90 countries. The first Citroen coming to India is expected to be the C5 Aircross and it has also been spotted running trials and Groupe PSA will likely launch it with high local content by manufacturing it in Chennai.
The C5 Aircross is also known as the C84 and is expected to rival against current top-spec variants of the Hyundai Creta as well as Tata Harrier, Jeep Compass and Hyundai Tucson. But, by the time it arrives, the Creta will have gotten more premium in its next avatar with a reported seven-seat layout. The Kia SP2i and MG premium SUV can also be added to the list of competitors.
The C5 Aircross is retailed in many European countries alongside China and its latest iteration debuted back in April 2017 at the Auto Shanghai show. Citroen has made bold claims with the premium SUV and is said to be the and I quote “most comfortable SUV” of its time. It is mainly due to the Progressive Hydraulic Cushions used in the suspension.
For the Indian market that weighs on good comfort levels, the C5 Aircross could tick all the right boxes. It is underpinned by the EMP2 architecture as the DS7 Crossback and has noticeable commonalities with the Peugeot 3008. It is offered in a range of engine choices internationally including a turbocharged petrol engine in two states of tune: 165 PS and 200 PS.
Moreover, Citroen also sells the C5 Aircross with BlueHDi turbo diesel engine and a PHEV with all-wheel-drive system developing 300 PS and it has electric-only range of 60 kilometres. Apart from the C5 Aircross, Citroen has an assortment of models being sold globally pertaining to different volume segments and they will come handy for India.