The new Citroën C3 Aircross has gone on sale as one of the cheapest seven-seaters on the market, priced from £21,005 with three rows.
That price is only beaten by the Dacia Jogger at £18,295 in its bare-bones Essential form, while the 4.39m C3 Aircross – the smallest seven-seater currently on sale – opens in Plus trim with a 10.25in screen, 17in alloy, and a USB-C port for the rearmost passengers.
Cheaper still, the C3 Aircross range starts at £20,240 with five seats paired with Stellantis’s ubiquitous 100bhp Puretech’ powerplant and a six-speed manual gearbox.
The range tops out at £25,740 in Max trim that is exclusively sold with a 136bhp mild-hybrid powertrain and eight-speed auto ‘box. This trim adds heated seats, heated windscreen, additional body colour options, wireless charging, and extra parking seasons.
The electric ë-C3 Aircross opens at £22,990, and cannot be had with seven-seats. It is currently offered with just one 111bhp, 44kWh electric setup. It is claimed to allow 186 miles of driving between recharges, down 17 miles compared with the smaller ë-C3. A larger battery will become available later this year, boosting range to more than 250 miles,
This price, just £2500 more than the equivalent C3 Aircross, undercuts the new Ford Puma Gen-E by around £7000, and the smaller MG 4 by £4000, albeit offering fewer electric miles. The ë-C3 range tops out at £24,990 in Max trim.
The new model 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 Citroën C3 crossover, Fiat Grande Panda and Vauxhall Frontera, it is 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 ‘Puretech’ three-cylinder, 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.
