This is the new Citroen C3 Aircross

The C-Cross Concept from this year’s Geneva motor show has become a proper thing. Said thing is called the C3 Aircross, and it promises much. Citroen says it “brings a breath of fresh air to the compact SUV segment”, and that it “invites fans of style, well-being and adventure to live a whole new automotive experience”. 

So if the car is even half as good as the PR fluff, Citroen is surely onto a winner with the C3 Aircross. The Mazda CX-3, Renault Captur and Nissan Juke competitor is about 20cm longer than a C3 and has the typical, pseudo-SUV trappings like raised ride-height (20mm more than C3 it shares a platform with), skid-plates and wheel-arch extensions. And of course personalisation is a thing, so there are 90 possible exterior colour combinations and various themes for the interior, which Citroen says is class-leadingly spacious. 

Engines are as per the C3, which means the rather good PureTech three-cylinder petrols and four-cyinder turbodiesels. There’s even some proper SUV tech in the form of Grip Control, which can be toggled between sand and snow modes among others. Hill descent control is available too, but quite why you’d need it in a car that - so far as we can see - isn’t available with AWD, we’re not entirely sure. 

There is other tech too. A colour head-up display, a top-down reversing camera and various active and passive safety systems will all feature when the C3 Aircross goes on sale in the UK on November 1st. Hopefully it’s as good as the car on which it’s based, for the current C3 is really very good.