This is it, mark your dates. The French biggie Groupe PSA will mark its entry in India, under the premium SUV segment on the 1st of February 2021 via the Citroen C5 Aircross. The C5 Aircross was originally planned to be introduced last year but the entire pandemic situation pushed its launch further. Now though, the C5 Aircross will officially debut in India on 1st February with the deliveries expected to commence later around March.
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Groupe PSA which consists of Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel and Vauxhall brands is expected to bring in the C5 Aircross in the premium SUV segment.
If they price the C5 Aircross aggressively, it could be in around INR 25 lakhs range, which would pit it against the likes of Hyundai Tuscon and the Jeep Compass Trailhawk and the Skoda Karoq. Otherwise, if it commands a premium and is not much aggressively priced, it will go up against the likes of the Volkswagen Tiguan All-space and the Skoda Kodiaq.
The Citroen C5 gets a very sleek design upfront with a split headlamp setup. A smooth grille runs across at the top housing the logo and LED DRLs on either sides. A relatively bigger grille sits below with LED headlights at either end. The Fog Lamps are situated relatively low on the bumper. The sides feature a set of nice, sharp alloy wheels and a black cladding. The rear looks tall with a black cladding at the bottom and a quad tail light setup on either side.
Under the hood, the Citroen C5 Aircross will likely draw power from a 2.0L, 4 cyl, turbo diesel engine which puts out 176 PS of peak power and 400Nm of peak torque. It is mated to an 8-speed Automatic transmission in its Euro-spec. However, Citroen might throw in a Manual gearbox option in India. A Petrol engine is not expected to come in as of now and it will be a diesel-only car on launch.
The Citroen C5 Aircross has been spotted repeatedly testing on the Indian roads. Along with that, Citroen is also working on a sub 4m compact SUV that will be made for India, and it is presumably on its tracks. Peugeot was also spotted testing its 208 Hatch in India some time ago. It doesn’t directly imply that Peugeot will follow suit in India but the Global manufacturers now for sure, recognise India as a very viable market.