2019 Citroen C3 Aircross is the company’s first SUV

Citroen has revealed details of what it calls its first-ever SUV, the C3 Aircross. In a unique twist, the diminutive French crossover will hit Australian showrooms this week not in a choice-rich multi-variant line-up, but with a single specification and price.

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Citroen Australia’s managing director, Ben Farlow, says the arrival of the all-new C3 Aircross marks Citroen’s move into the SUV segment with a car designed around urban motorists.

“The all-new Citroen C3 Aircross arrives at a time when the market is demanding practical, spacious, feature-laden models and the C3 Aircross delivers,” Mr Farlow said.

The single variant will cost $32,990 before on-roads, and includes a comprehensive list of standard inclusions.

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Citroen’s first SUV foray features a novel multi-tone exterior colour scheme that’s available at no extra charge, while 17-inch rims and roof rails are included as standard.

A ‘bitone’ treatment includes an alternatively coloured roof turret, which will combine with a white accent pack for the mirror caps, headlight surrounds and roof rails. The rear three-quarter windows are made of Perspex plastic to save weight, and are inlaid with a venetian blind-style treatment.

Colour choices will be as follows; blue with white roof and highlights ; red with black roof and silver highlights; white with black roof and orange highlights; black with sand-coloured roof and silver accents; and sand with black roof and orange highlights.

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Inside, the C3 Aircross is offered with automatic lights and wipers, a touchscreen multimedia system and keyless entry/push-button start. A cloth interior, electric side mirrors and a powered driver’s seat are all standard as well.

Autonomous braking, blind-spot monitoring, a head-up display, top-view and reversing cameras, and automatic high-beam driver assistance features are all included with the base price, while Android Auto/Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring, speed sign recognition and driver attention alert are also included.

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The C3 Aircross comes with just one powertrain choice. The brand’s popular 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine makes 81kW and 205Nm, and drives the front wheels via a new Aisin six-speed automatic transmission. It’s no performance monster, though, taking a leisurely 10.6 seconds to get from rest to 100km/h.

Citroen claims the C3 Aircross will return 6.6L/100km on the combined fuel economy cycle. Its 45-litre fuel tank will need a diet of at least 95 octane fuel.

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Size-wise, the C3 Aircross is 4154mm long, 1762mm wide and 1637mm high, with ground clearance of 170mm. It weighs just 1204kg, claims Citroen, and offers 410 litres of boot space behind the seats, or 1289L when the rear seats are dropped. A space-saver spare wheel hides under the boot floor.

The C3 will be pitched into the red-hot small SUV class against the ageing but successful Mitsubishi ASX, the popular Mazda CX-3 and the novel Toyota C-HR, among others.