Citroen C3 compact SUV first TVC released officially

Citroen has just revealed the C3 compact SUV for the international market. The C3 is the first product under the C-Cubed program of Citroen. The program is specially designed to make new products for developing markets. The C3 will be produced in India and South America. Citroen will also be launching the new compact SUV in the Indian market in the first half of 2022. Now, the French manufacturer has released the first TVC that shows the C3 in all its glory.

 

C3 will be the most affordable vehicle in Citroen’s line-up. As of now, Citroen only has the C5 AirCross which is a premium mid-size SUV. It has been priced higher than its rivals because it comes to India as a CKD or Completely Knocked Down unit. Citroen knows that to breach the Indian market, they would have to launch something that is more affordable and can appeal to the mass market.

The C3 is a compact SUV that will be going against other premium hatchbacks, micro-SUVs and compact SUVs. It is expected to be priced aggressively in the Indian market because Citroen has been able to achieve more than 90 percent of the localization level. The C3 is based on the CMP or Common Modular Platform.

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The CMP platform will also be shared by a lot of other manufacturers like Opel, Peugeot, Jeep and Stellantis. It supports various different powertrains. So, CMP can use a petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric powertrain. Citroen has already said that the C3 is all ready to support an electric drivetrain if the market demands it.

CMP also supports various different kinds of body styles. It can be used to manufacture sedans, hatchbacks, compact SUVs and even mid-size SUVs. So, we can expect future vehicles of Citroen to also use the same platform. In fact, Jeep is already developing a compact SUV based on the CMP platform and it will even have a 4×4 drivetrain.

Engine and gearbox

Citroen will be using a 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol engine for the C3. The power and torque outputs are not known yet. However, we expect power output to be somewhere around 100 PS. It would be offered with a 5-speed manual gearbox or a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox. There will be no diesel engine on offer.

Design

The design of the C3 is very funky just like its siblings. It looks very different from other vehicles in its segment which makes the C3 stand out from the crowd. It gets a split headlamp design. So, the LED Daytime Running Lamp is split into two pieces. Both of them integrates with Citroen’s grille and eventually with the logo. The air dam is quite large and there is a wide faux skid plate too. The fog lamp surrounds get orange accents.

The interior is also quite funky with an orange dashboard, a wide infotainment system and unusual looking air conditioning vents. The three-spoke multi-function steering wheel is rather chunky and we are expecting Citroen to offer a digital instrument cluster.

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