Last year, the PSA group announced that it will be entering India with Citroen. The French auto giant showcased its C5 Aircross SUV and announced that along with sales, Citroen will also begin production of the SUV in the country. However, due to the automotive slump late last year and a global pandemic at the start of 2020, Citroen postponed its plans for India. The carmaker will be launching the new C5 Aircross SUV by 2021, and building up to that, Citroen will manufacture a few units at CK Birla’s plant in Tamil Nadu. These units will solely be dedicated for development and homologation purposes.
In the first phase of its India endeavour, Citoren will be setting up 10-12 state-of-the-art ‘La Maison Citroen’ outlets that will spring up across 10 cities in the country. The first few batches of the Citroen C5 Aircross will be brought in as CKD (completely knocked-down) units and then assembled at its plant in Tamil Nadu. While there are no official reports, Citroen is likely to retail just one, fully-loaded variant of the C5 Aircross which will reportedly go on sale for INR 20-30 lakh. Citroen is likely to sell just this one version in order to gauge customer interest before launching more affordable variants. However, in order to bring an air of affordability around the brand, Citroen also aims to strengthen its market share with its ‘C-Cubed’ programme that will bring in new generations of its current international model lineup.
Talking about the Citroen C5 Aircross, the SUV features distinctive styling mixed with typical Citroen design elements. In terms of features, the Citroen will boast necessities such as an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, powered driver’s seat, 12-inch digital instrument console, panoramic sunroof, powered tailgate, LED headlamps with LED DRLs and dual-zone climate control. In terms of performance, the new Citroen C5 Aircross is likely to draw power from a choice of two engine options. A 2.0-litre diesel unit which is capable of developing 180bhp and a 1.5-litre diesel unit which is capable of developing 130bhp. When it comes to the task of transferring power to the wheels, the job is likely to be taken care of an 8-speed automatic transmission.
