Produced by: Hitansh Gaur
Designed by: Manoj Kumar
French automaker Citroen discreetly launched its new mid-size SUV C3 Aircross earlier this week. The price of the new SUV starts at Rs 9.99 lakh, making it the most affordable option in the segment.
Just like C3, the new C3 Aircross has the logo integrated in the front grille which has a two-layer design with chrome and piano black inserts. It also gets the same Y-shaped LED DRLs and headlamps like the Citroen C3. The new SUV gets bigger air vents surrounded by round fog lamps. The new C3 Aircross has a square tailgate and square taillamps.
The French carmaker offers its new SUV Citroen C3 Aircross in three variants – You, Plus and Max. The car is available in both 5-seater and 7-seater options.
The new Citroen SUV comes with a 10.2-inch infotainment display and a 7-inch digital instrument cluster. The infotainment system supports wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as well. Citroen C3 Aircross does not have a sunroof unlike all of its rivals. The car runs on 17-inch alloy wheels and also has AC vents for the second row and third row seats.
Safety features of the Citroen C3 Aircross SUV include two airbags, hill-hold assist, tyre pressure monitoring system, reverse parking sensors, ABS and EAC.
Citroen is offering just one engine option for its new mid-size C3 Aircross SUV – a 1.2-litre turbocharged 3-cycle petrol engine producing an output of 110 bhp power and 170 Nm of torque. The engine comes with only one transmission, a 6-speed manual.
Kia introduced the new facelift of its highly popular Seltos SUV earlier this year. The car comes with three engine options - 1.5-litre turbo petrol, 1.5-diesel and 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol. The company offers either a 6-speed iMT transmission or a 7-speed DCT with all three powertrains. The major features of latest Seltos SUV are a panoramic sunroof, a 10.25-inch twin display touchscreen infotainment system and Level-2 ADAS features. Ex-showroom price of Kia Seltos 2023 starts at Rs 10.89 lakh.
Technically the sibling of Seltos, Hyundai Creta also comes with multiple engine options – 1.5-litre MPi naturally aspirated petrol engine, 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine and 1.5-litre U2 CRDi diesel engine. Some of the major features of the Korean SUV are a panoramic sunroof, 10.25-inch infotainment system and 8-speaker premium Bose sound system. The price of the Hyundai Creta starts at Rs. 10.84 lakh.
Maruti entered the compact SUV segment with a bang as they launched the Grand Vitara this year. The car comes with a 1.5-litre petrol 3-cycle Atkinson cycle engine paired to a strong hybrid engine and an eCVT transmission. The other option is a mild-hybrid 1.5-litre petrol engine paired to a 5-speed MT or 6-speed AT. The major features of Maruti’s SUV are panoramic sunroof, a 9-inch touchscreen infotainment system and the latest Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS). Ex-showroom price of Grand Vitara starts at Rs 10.70 lakh.
Toyota’s mid-size SUV is another major rival which is powered by either of the two 1.5-litre petrol engines connected to different hybrid systems – mild and strong. The mild-engine is paired with either a 5-speed manual transmission or a 6-speed TC. The strong hybrid version is available only with a CVT automatic transmission. Just like Grand Vitara, Hyryder also gets a panoramic sunroof and a 9-inch touchscreen infotainment display. Price of the Urban Cruiser Hyryder starts at Rs 15.11 lakh.
Apart from the Indian and Korean options, the Indian customers also have the option of German mid-size SUVs. The company launched the latest version of its SUV in March this year. Skoda Kushaq is available with either a 1.0-litre turbo petrol engine or a 1.5-litre TSI petrol motor. Both engines are mated with a 6-speed manual transmission but 1.5-litre motor also gets the option of 7-speed DSG transmission. The ex-showroom price of Skoda Kushaq starts at Rs 11.59 lakh.