All New Citroen C3 Makes its Global Debut in India, Enters Sub-Four-Meter SUV Category

There is a new sub-four-meter SUV in town! Citroen has revealed its most compact and affordable offering destined for the Indian car market, the Citroen C3. The new Citroen C3 has entered the already crowded sub-four-meter SUV space, as it measures under 4 meters in length.

Scheduled to be launched in the first half of 2022, the Citroen C3 will be locally manufactured here in India. The C3, which made its global debut here in India, is a model which has been designed and engineered for emerging car markets like India and South America.

2022 Citroen C3: Exterior

Citroen insists that it is an ‘SUV-inspired’ hatchback with a twist. However, the proportions, design language and stance give it a visual appeal like other sub-four-meter SUVs. The overall design, in typical Citroen fashion, stands out with its quirky design language which has been inspired from the bigger Citroen SUVs like C5 Aircross.

The double slat chrome grille with Citroen logo seamlessly integrated in the middle of the grille ends up in the split headlamps mounted on the sides. These split headlamps also get split V-type design for the daytime running LEDs, with the main headlamp here having a halogen setup.

The Citroen C3 gets heavy body cladding all around, with the front and rear bumper getting big skid plates. The front and side body claddings also get color coded bits on them, adding to the funkiness of the overall design. The side profile of the Citroen C3 also gets carved-out scoop designs for the front and rear fenders, roof rails and diamond-cut alloy wheels

At the rear, the Citroen C3 has a rather clean design, with sweptback trapezoidal tail lamps with LED inserts. The car will be getting plethora of customization and dual tone paint schemes to choose from.

2021 Citroen C3: Interior

The factor of quirkiness has been carried out for interior of the Citroen C3 as well, with the cabin having a very unique design. What catches one’s attention is the thick and contrasting orange colored panel for the passenger side of the dashboard, which gets perforations in them.

The rectangular-themed AC vents, vertically laid on corners of the dashboard and horizontally laid in the center console, have black finish around them. A wide and rectangular free-standing 10-inch touchscreen is placed in the center, which comes integrated with Apple Carplay and Android Auto and has a small smartphone holder to its left side. Even the body colors and interior trims can be customized to one’s choice. Other bits in the cabin of the Citroen C3 include a flat-bottom multi-functional steering wheel, full TFT instrument console, manual AC controls and front seats with integrated headrests.

2021 Citroen C3: Platform

The Citroen C3 will be underpinned by the CMP modular platform of the Stellantis group of automakers, and is the first of the three global SUVs to be based on this platform. All these three SUVs are expected to be launched before 2024, with this lineup also including a sub-four-meter SUV from Jeep. The Citroen C3 will see localization level of more than 90 per cent.

The Citroen C3 will be a petrol only model, however, for the time being, the powertrain details are kept under wraps. However, in all likelihood, the Citroen C3 will be getting a sub-1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine, which will be offered with both manual and automatic transmission options.

2021 Citroen C3: Competition

The new Citroen C3 is entering into the sub-four-meter segment, which already has a plethora of options, despite the departure of the vehicle which started this segment – Ford Ecosport. The new C3 will rival the likes of Renault Kiger, Nissan Magnite, Maruti Vitara Brezza and Toyota Urban Cruiser. It will also compete with the lower-spec variants of more premium SUVs in the same space, like Hyundai Venue, Kia Sonet, Mahindra XUV300 and Tata Nexon.