This post was originally published on Autocar
At 4390mm, the new C3 Aircross is considerably longer than its predecessor
Second-generation family crossover is larger and more practical than before; EV starts at £22,990
The new Citroën C3 Aircross has gone on sale as one of the UK market’s cheapest seven-seaters, priced from £21,005 with three rows.
That price is beaten by the Dacia Jogger at £18,295 in its bare-bones Essential form, but as standard the C3 Aircross gets luxuries including a 10.25in touchscreen, 17in alloy wheels and a USB-C port for third-row passengers.
At 4.39m long, the C3 Aircross is the smallest seven-seater currently on sale.
With seven seats fitted (a £765 option), the boot is reduced from 460 to 330 litres; and with the third row up, luggage space is virtually non-existent (pictured below).
The C3 Aircross starts at £20,240 with five seats, Stellantis’s ubiquitous 100bhp turbo petrol engine and a six-speed manual gearbox.
The range tops out at £25,740 in Max trim, which is exclusively sold with a 136bhp mild-hybrid powertrain and an eight-speed automatic gearbox.
Max trim adds heated seats, a heated windscreen, additional body colour options, wireless smartphone charging and extra parking sensors.
The electric ë-C3 Aircross opens at £22,990 and can’t be had in seven-seat form.
It’s currently offered with just one 111bhp, 44kWh powertrain, giving it a range of 186 miles – down 17 miles on the smaller ë-C3.
A larger battery option will become available later this year, boosting range to more than 250 miles.
That price, just £2500 more than for the equivalent ICE C3 Aircross, undercuts the new Ford Puma Gen-E by around £7000 and the smaller MG 4 EV by £4000, albeit offering fewer miles.
The ë-C3 range tops out at £24,990 in Max trim.
The second-generation C3 Aircross makes the switch from the PFA1 platform, which dates back to the Peugeot 206, to Stellantis’s new affordability-focused Smart Car architecture.
Shared with the new C3, Fiat Grande Panda and Vauxhall Frontera, it’s designed to suit several different types of powertrains. To that end, the C3 Aircross will be available with a choice of petrol, mild-hybrid and battery-electric power.
Underneath, the petrol option is Stellantis’s ubiquitous turbocharged 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine, sending 100bhp to the front wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox.
The mild-hybrid powerplant is an evolution of the same lump, said to comprise 40% new components including a timing chain (rather than a belt) and a variable-geometry turbocharger.
It’s mated to a dual-clutch automatic ‘box fitted with a 28bhp permanent magnet synchronous motor, which is fed by a small 48V lithium-ion battery mounted under the floor. Citroën claims the system is capable of completing around half of city driving on the motor alone.
Both the petrol and the mild hybrid are available with five or seven seats, whereas the range-topping EV is available only with five.
The single electric setup comprises a 111bhp motor on the front wheels and which draws power from a 44kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery pack.
Citroën has yet to declare a 0-62mph sprint time for either car, but the SUV is said to offer “sufficient performance to slot into everyday traffic”, hinting at its town-focused billing.
The brand added that it prioritised comfort in developing the Aircross, utilising the same hydraulic bump stops as the C3, fettled to support the weight of up to seven passengers.