Citroen New C3 Aircross SUV revealed for India, South America

Citroen has revealed the second of three planned small cars for emerging markets with the New C3 Aircross, an SUV available with five or seven seats.

The C3 Aircross will go on sale in India and South America in late 2023, followed by a new market, Indonesia, in 2024.

The Stellantis brand is targeting 30 percent sales outside Europe by 2025 compared with 15 percent in 2021, and in 2019 it announced the C-Cubed program to develop models tailored for international buyers.

The C3 Aircross will be built in Porto Real, Brazil, and Thiruvallar, India, where Stellantis has a joint venture factory with CK Birla.

“Our strategy is to enter and grow in high-potential and fast-growing key regions and markets with a differentiated offering for customers which is affordable, locally-tailored and locally-built,” Citroen's new CEO, Thierry Koskas, said in a statement. 

The New C3 Aircross will allow Citroen "to reach a new group of customers who want an appealing, value-for-money and spacious family B-SUV with tough, muscular design,” he added. Koskas became Citroen CEO on March 1, succeeding Vincent Cobee.

The C3 Aircross revealed on Thursday differs from the model of the same name that has been sold in Europe since 2017.

The European C3 Aircross was developed jointly by GM and PSA Group; the India-built model is on a version of the CMP architecture that was modified with help from Tata Consulting. The cars do share similar styling, with a large C pillar, but the European model is 160 mm shorter.

It follows the New C3 small car launched last year; a full-electric version went on sale in February. Stellantis has not said if it will bring any of the models to Europe.

The New C3 Aircross has 200 mm of ground clearance, protective cladding and approach and departure angles that ensure it won’t scrape the ground on steep hills, Citroen said. The suspension has been tuned for rougher roads.

Citroen did not release full technical specifications for the New C3 Aircross, but it will be powered by Stellantis’ 1.2 liter three-cylinder gasoline engine, which is locally built in India.

Comfort and convenience features include an optional 10-inch central touch screen and up to five USB ports, including for third-row passengers.

Citroen introduced the New C3 Aircross in India, where small SUVs are considered family vehicles. The 4320-mm long car fits into the larger of two tax brackets in the segment (the other is sub-four meters), but Citroen says sales of longer small SUVs increased by 32 percent in 2022. The brand says the C3 Aircross will stand out because it is a true SUV, with a “muscular” design, rather than a minivan or multi-purpose vehicle (MPV).

In South America, Citroen hopes to increase its market share four-fold from 2021 to 2024, but it will face tough competition in the small SUV segment, where there are now 16 models available in Brazil and 17 in Argentina, the two largest regional markets. The New C3 will be the only model with seven seats, Citroen says.

Renault has launched a similar model program in India, starting with the Kwid mini-SUV. In recent years it has added the Triber small seven-seat crossover and the Kiger, a small five-seat SUV. 

Renault and alliance partner Nissan recently announced a reboot of their strategy in India. The automakers will invest $600 million to boost their operations in India, including the planned launch of six new joint models.

The Indian market has remained robust since the pandemic brought sales to a halt in mid-2020, with sales in February up 9 percent year over year, according to a report from LMC Automotive. Passenger vehicle sales were up 16 percent compared to the pre-covid month of February 2020, LMC said in April.

However, the market is facing a challenge in rising prices, with a year-over-year increase of about 4 percent. The implementation of new real-world emissions norms on April 1 will tack another  4 percent on to prices, LMC said. 

Sales of passenger vehicles in 2023 are expected grow by 6 percent to a new record of 4.64 million, LMC said.

As usual, the Indian market was led by Maruti Suzuki, with 101,000 sales for the month, more than twice as much as second-place Hyundai, which registered 47,000 sales.

The top European brand was Renault, in ninth place with 6,600 sales. Citroen, in 17th place, registered 328 sales for the month, but it has just started selling the New C3.