Citroen was supposed to launch the Basalt SUV Coupe yesterday, the same day when Tata Motors launched the Curvv.EV. Citroen has pushed back the launch to the 9th of August, ostensibly to not get drowned out by the media chorus around the Tata Curvv. What Citroen has instead done is, it’s put out a teaser video with Brand Ambassador MS Dhoni. The teaser video leads us to believe that the Basalt will be priced extremely competitively. So much so that even MS Dhoni is stunned with the price tag on the Basalt. Well, take a look at the teaser video first.
As the video clearly indicates, Citroen seems to be planning a very sharp starting price for the Basalt, which should make it the most affordable SUV coupe that India has ever seen. The Basalt is likely to be slotted in between the sub-4 meter C3 hatchback and the larger C3 AirCross compact SUV.
A starting price of Rs. 8.5 lakh is likely for the Basalt coupe SUV. The larger C3 AirCross starts at Rs. 9.99 lakh. Optimists, after watching the teaser, will even expect a Rs. 7.99 lakh starting price for the new coupe SUV, which frankly misses out on a lot of features even on its top-end trim.
For instance, there’s no cruise control, no push button start, no keyless entry, no sunroof, no pull-type door handles and so on. These are features that are quite popular among compact SUV buyers in India, and generally the Indian car buyer has come to expect these features on top-end trims of most cars. Omitting so many features should ideally give Citroen the room to offer the Basalt at a very competitive price point. We’ll find out tomorrow, anyway.
Coming to the car itself, it measures 4,352 mm in length, and has a wheelbase of 2,651 mm, which is 20 mm less than that on the C3 AirCross. Ground clearance has gone down to 180 mm (from 200 mm of the C3 AirCross) thanks to the smaller 16 inch wheels (compared to the 17ers of the AirCross). Clearly, the Basalt is the smaller of the duo.
Talking engines, there’s the 1.2 liter-3 cylinder naturally aspirated unit, a carry over from the C3 hatchback, and one that pumps 82 Bhp-115 Nm. This engine gets a 5 speed manual gearbox.
Notably, this engine will be the reason why Citroen prices the Basalt super competitively, enough to get buyers interested, and into showrooms, only to end up buying the higher trims. This strategy never gets old. Price the base trim of the car so competitively that people are tempted into showrooms, and then let the sales people upsell the higher variants.
The other engine is the 1.2 liter-3 cylinder turbo petrol with 110 Bhp-190/205 Nm. A peach of a motor that loves being revved and that also rewards the driver with thrilling performance, it gets two gearbox options: a 6 speed manual and a smooth 6 speed torque converter automatic. Both gearboxes will drive the front wheels of the Basalt.
Citroen has nailed ride quality and handling in both the C3 hatchback and the C3 AirCross compact SUV. If it manages to get this vital aspect right even on the Basalt, it will continue enjoying the goodwill of car enthusiasts. As for sales, only time can tell.
A short note about SUV coupes
Previously a preserve of the luxury car segment, SUV coupes are now mainstream. This body style is quite a polarizing one, with the car enthusiast community divided right in the middle. While some love it for the unconventional combination of a SUV stance wrapped in a silhouette of a sedan, others find it distasteful.
BMW has to be credited for the rise of the SUV coupe, as the German automaker was the first to bring this body style to market way back in 2008. Yes, the BMW X6 coupe SUV was the first of the many SUV coupes that we now have on the road globally, and in fact, the X6 came into India sometime in 2009, as a completely built unit. With a price tag of over a crore, the BMW X6 was, and still is, only for the rich. Yuvraj Singh used to own one.
With the likes of the Citroen Basalt and the Tata Curvv served up at attractive, affordable price points, the SUV coupe design has finally been democratized. Don’t be surprised to see every mainstream car maker offering a SUV coupe in future even if one of these cars tastes big success .
