Is the new Citroen C3 a hatchback, or a crossover, or an MPV, or a subcompact SUV? The answer is yes. Well not officially anyway but that’s the play from the French carmaker. Its logic is that the C3 is globally the name it gives its B-Segment hatch, and so given its volumes model in India is also a B-hatch, voila – the Citroen C3 it is! But it is intended to take on a slew of entry models – across segments – and so it has a mix of attributes from all those very segments.
Now are you catching on? So now you know why it looks SUV-like but does not have the ‘Aircross’ suffix to its badge. Who knows, the C3 Aircross may yet follow (wink, wink). I reckon it will be a 7-seat MPV and then that subcompact SUV that will come next on this SmartCar platform from Citroen.
Watch Detailed Video Review Of The Citroen C3 Hatchback
The Citroen C3 is the first of those three cars promised to India and a few more markets. They will all use the same platform -largely the same drivetrains, while offering (sub)compact cars across body styles – all a part of the C Cubed strategy the company set into motion when it first entered India. That it is now a part of Stellantis only enhances the possibilities of increasing model offerings on the Smartcar platform, which in turn could only mean greater economies of scale. You see it’s the same playbook that Renault adopted with the Kwid – SUV-like styling in an entry-level hatch. I am in sunny and humid Goa to test the car. And as you can see, we have both engine variants.
Citroen C3 Design
Platinum grey and zesty orange, those are the two roof options that you can get. You can go body coloured for colours overall there’s a silver, white, grey, and orange. Now when it comes to customising the car, because of the sort of younger audience that Citroen wants to look for there’s going to be lots to play with. So you have 56 customisation options according to the company from word go, and 70 accessories that you can configure. Now if you don’t want to do that yourself. Well there are three packs customisation packs that come factory fitted. One’s called vibe, one called energy and one called elegance. It’s a combination of some of these accessories and if I start getting into what those combinations are, well that’s all I end up talking about; so you get the picture. So that’s the kind of play the company has here in terms of making the car really individual now in terms of styling, all that works because if you look at it, yes, it has the SUV cues, it has the proportions, the height, the sort of bulk, and it really is good looking.
Visually, the Citroen C3 gets this sort of chunky rear SUV looking crossover stance
It is very Citroen in its face, you’ve got that absolutely unmistakable design language with the split headlamp and the DRLs, which have the chevron pattern. It’s something that got established with the C5 maybe not well enough, but yes, those who have seen a C5 here in India would recognize this as a Citroen. At the back, the car does tend to look like many others because you know this sort of chunky rear SUV looking crossover stance – you’ve seen that in so many cars right from the Kwid upwards. A lot of the more recent subcompact SUVs as well. But that probably is intentional because they want you to think of this as an SUV. We’re not calling it one because it isn’t it is going to be positioned as one. It’s a hatchback with all of these cues, the cladding and the big wheels that make it stand out. Now one of the things that I don’t like because I do think it’s a very good-looking car, well, alloy wheels, not standard 15-inch tyres and wheels, of course is a good thing. But the lack of alloys that is optional, you can get it as one of those 70 accessories. The other thing is the door handles very 1990s. These clamshell handles, it’s a bit of a cost saving reason. I’m guessing why they’ve gone with that. But yeah, it looks a little archaic, nice chunky grab handles will look better, in my opinion. But otherwise there are some nice details like the little dips and layering in the taillight. And also these little orange accents that you see everywhere that complement the two-tone effect that the car has. So really good-looking cars going to get a lot of attention, but smartly done in ways to try and conceal some of the cost saving because it is going to come down to that cost saving.
I’m not talking about cost saving, like it’s a bad thing because you know what, at the end of the day, it benefits us the sticker price is attractive. Having said that, I mean, I’m happy to let go of some creature comforts, but letting go of a rear defogger or a rear wiper at least as an option. To me that’s a bit of a problem because that could be a safety issue, right? Like you need those things. Sometimes from a practical reason. There will be two trims on offer. So two variants across both engines, and you can do all of this optional stuff across both engines as well since the company what are the two trims and how they’re going to be priced? I think that’s the information we have to wait for.
Citroen C3 Engines
Under the hood, the C3 comes with the option of either a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine or a 1.2-litre turbo petrol, both are 3-cylinder units
The C3 is the first of a smart car platform cars. It’s a volume strategy from Citroen. So this platform will give us different cars, more body styles going forward. But it’s not just the car platform. It’s also the engine, the drive train that we have to think about. Because with this car, we get two options there as well. Both are three-cylinder petrol This one’s naturally aspirated. This one is turbocharged, 1.2 litre engines, two different manual gearboxes to go with these two but no automatic for now since the company the for now part becomes important. So it is going to be a volumes play. Let’s find out why Citroen didn’t just go with one engine.
So, while I know I should have probably started with the less powerful variant, I jumped into the turbo first anyway. The engine puts out a sprightly 108 bhp, so it’s not the most powerful hatch, but don’t forget this is a three-cylinder engine. Torque is generous and the mileage is good, but far from segment best. The gearbox is a 6-speed manual only. The naturally aspirated engine is also a 1.2 litre, 3-cylinder unit. It makes 80 bhp and torque is substantially lower than the turbo model, but very much on par with rival hatches. The gearbox is a 5-Speed manual here.
CITROEN C3 PURETECH 110
Displacement: 1199 cc
Max Power: 108 bhp @ 5500 rpm
Peak Torque: 190 Nm @ 1750 rpm
Transmission: 6-Speed Manual
Citroen C3 Ride And Handling
Citroen says that it’s really worked hard on making the air conditioning very effective cooling very, very fast, especially for the Indian conditions. It’s a pretty muggy and hot day here in Goa and I can tell you, it is working really well. The downside to that is that the blower speeds, you have the lower on one right now. That’s two that’s three okay, I’m kidding. That’s four it just is really, really loud, and noisy. Overall, I think that’s a bit of a bit of a weak point for the car NVH levels in general, not just this fan, but even wind noise and some of what I’m hearing from outside It could have been better Damping on that. But now let’s get to the good part. And there is one. In fact, there’s more than one.
The Citroen C3 offers a comfortable ride and can handle bad roads quite nicely
I am driving the turbo right now. And you know what? This is a peppy, fun, quick, fast engine. It really gives you a nice sense of performance. It is very responsive, and it’s mated it beautifully to the six-speed gearbox. The gearbox is actually really one of the highlights for me. But speaking of highlights, it’s time to say oui Mademoiselle! Because there was this claim there was this big promise there. Was this huge hype around comfort class right with the C5 Aircross there was a promise that was made to the market that this is Citroen, and this is who we are. So will this small little entry car also be able to live up to that promise? Suspension, suspension, suspension! The ride quality on this car is absolutely terrific. You will love it. It is smooth. it is very comfortable. and the sense of refinement that that gives you – what Citroen likes to call a sense of comfort – that’s going to be the USP of this car. I was hoping for it. I partially thought that you know how much can they do in this small footprint. The answer to that? A lot!”
The car will surprise you with how comfy it feels and is on the road. Even on bad roads, over potholes and speed breakers too. What a revelation. The front suspension is a MacPherson Strut with a coil spring, while at the back it is a rear twist beam layout. And while it does not have the famed hydraulic cushion USP that the C5 does, it has been tuned brilliantly. The steering could have been a bit sharper but the car’s brakes are good. It’s disc brakes up front and drums at the rear. It is all similar on the other variant.
Now with the naturally aspirated engine everybody’s going to say this car feels underpowered. Only when you also make a direct comparison to the turbo, there’s no doubt about that. You are going to have that level of comparison going on your head, even if you try very hard not to. So what’s the point I’m trying to make? The engine isn’t underpowered, but it lacks pep the difference. What I’m trying to in what I’m trying to say is that you know you get a sense of heft, as if something is holding it back. To me, that’s a little bit of a problem. But you know what, for most average users and buyers, it’s not going to be a problem because the good news, it’s very refined, it comes across as refined. And now for the great news, the gearbox its really, really good. It’s been mated nicely to the engine, good quick gear changes, and again, very refined. The ride quality exactly like the one on the turbo, so no difference there. And that remains the huge trump card. Beautiful, right quality, great suspension. Overall, that whole sense of comfort and refinement shines through on this car
Citroen C3 Cabin
The sense of material quality is pretty good inside the C3, plus you get the option for a two-tone dashboard and several good features
Funky young and fun, the layout and the overall colour palette and design in here is actually quite nicely done. I mean, you know what, this is going to be a budget Car. But the good news is that it doesn’t come across like that plastics the way they’ve been finished the feel. The overall you know; sense of material quality is pretty good. You have this zesty orange insert here. You only get that dash option on the two-tone you have the orange roof or on the grey monotone car you don’t get it on anything else. All other guys have something called anodized grey. Go figure is just a slightly different shade of grey and the rest of the plastics. It’s a nice element it looks like it would be soft to the touch isn’t but it’s again, it’s nicely finished. I’m happy with the material quality there. The AC vents have a little bit of that Citroen air bump kind of feels so they go with the overall quirky styling of Citroens there’s a little parcel tray down here like little shelf that’s also finished off in a metallic tone. Basic air conditioning you don’t have a climate control option, one USB point here. Lots of storage space and different sort of shelves here. Which is kind of interesting. A little bit of a deep storage down there and the storage below the handbrake. The steering wheel intentionally designed as being a little compacts is Citroen because they feel like it’s going to help with manoeuvrability. There’s an under five meter turning circle. Now the instrument cluster is really tiny. It is monochrome, but it is digital. It gives you some basic information, but it’s not sort of something that’s exciting in this day and age you do expect that to be a little bit sexier, a little bit more exciting. Now you’ve got the option here of dead switches is which means you have a future point or in a different model or a different variant in the future. You could get some more optional buttons here. There’s also a dead switch down here on the dash panel. Which means again in the future maybe a start stop button could appear there because it’s around dead switch. There is no dead paddle here which is a little disappointing for me because it makes driving a little bit uncomfortable that should have been considered.
Citroen C3 Tech And Features
Now a quick word about the stuff that matters to most of you and that is all the infotainment and connectivity options a 10-inch touchscreen which is nice and big and really stands out it’s well finished to have to say. And then a few little other add-ons, some nice little segment firsts as well as wireless Apple Car Play or Android Auto. I love that because it means you don’t have to use a cable. But if you want to use a cable, this is a nice little thing as well. The way that the housing of the air conditioning has been designed, it has these two little clips so you can loop your cable and there’s a niche xx to add on accessory which can keep your smartphone clamped in and in goes your charging cable or even if you’re charging the phone down here. Again, you can just plug it in, stick it into the slot. And you don’t have messy dangly cables, messing everything up or coming in the way of your gearshift. So that’s a nice thing. The screen itself is nice and responsive. We’ll have more details on it separately of course in our tech review, but everything about it in terms of functionality and usage is nice and easy. The graphics are pretty smartly done and like I said, the connectivity option with your smartphone is also nice. The whole wireless point is good that there is no wireless charger though.”
As long as there’s no huge compromise on safety or dynamics, you can’t always question some of the cost saving measures in cars, right. Some of them are actually pretty intelligently done. But you know what, in day-to-day usage, there are a few things that could become minor irritant, so just annoying points. Like the central locking on this car. It has central locking, but then you know, you got to flick this little lock unlock switch when the door is shut, and that’s no button there’s no like One quick way to do it. Also in most cars today when the car is locked, you just got to yank this twice, and then the car unlocks at least that particular door does. In this case, that doesn’t happen. You got to remember to unclick that for all the doors to unlock some minor point I know but yes, it can become an irritant in daily usage and other irritants, something we’ve almost forgotten about these little manually adjusting mirrors. Most cars these days, at least at the top end and have those electric mirrors is doesn’t that’s okay. I don’t question that to a large extent. But again, something that some people might need to get used to.
Citroen C3 Rear Seat Space
So here’s where you get that sense of space because you know what it is spacious and that’s been smartly designed smartly done. Great amount of headroom. Pretty good on legroom too. I mean, I’ve got the two seats adjusted just about in the middle, but it’s a good long rail of adjustment on that front seat so you can get yourself to be pretty comfortable. Now, maybe I can’t stretch my legs, or you know, sit lavishly with them crossed, but it is not bad. It’s actually pretty roomy and quite generous. Now, back here, you don’t get an AC vent for the rear seat, but you have two USB points. That’s something that a lot of people will value. little cumbersome to reach out for the power window switches that are here in the middle. I don’t know why a lot of these budget models think that that’s the way to go. I know it’s a cost saving, but it’s like too obvious cost saving. I really prefer to have it over here, especially now in 2022. Okay, the seat itself quite comfortable. Nicely done. I love the back angle. I love the fact that they really thought about the H-point, you know, the hip to the leg ratio, and I’m sitting very comfortably. Under thigh support is pretty good too. That was a surprise to me. I didn’t expect that seat angle and overall height is also kind of SUV like you don’t feel like you’re sitting in a small hatchback. And there is theatre style seating according to Citroen, which means that there’s an intentional uplifting of the seat so that even people sitting in the back get a nice panoramic view of the exterior environment. That’s smartly done. The only little catch there I feel is that it’s not really that wide. So it’s great for two people because there’s a nice little angle and contouring of this bolster. But if you have a third person and adult in the middle, then you want to kind of squish over to the side and this little bolstering is going to eat into your back. Just a tiny bit. No drop-down armrest option either and, you know it’s still overall I think it’s the sense of space and the actual space that become the USP in the back.
One little grouse I have and that’s not just with Citroen because you know what the market regulation doesn’t require it lap belt for the middle passenger. I don’t know when we’re going to get three-point seatbelts at the back. It’s something that we keep petitioning the policymakers so Mr. Gadkari that’s something that has to happen before six airbags can happen.
CITROEN C3 PURETECH 82
Displacement: 1198 cc
Max Power: 80 bhp @ 5750 rpm
Peak Torque: 115 Nm @ 3750 rpm
Transmission: 5-Speed Manual
Citroen C3 Fuel Efficiency
Now if the whole idea was that hey this is going to be the cheaper engine there’s going to be a huge disparity in price. We’ll wait and see maybe that’s the reason why they picked this engine because usually when you have a naturally aspirated and a turbo, the whole point is pricing and mileage. But weird thing here is while the mileage numbers are good. There’s only a point four decimal, or like four decimal points difference between the two of them. So yeah, at least then, you know, this one should have had maybe higher mileage like, way more than 20 or 21 kilometres per litre. But having said that, 19.8 not bad at all.
Claimed Mileage:
C3 PURETECH 82 – 19.8 kmpl
C3 PURETECH 110 – 19.4 kmpl
Citroen C3: When’s The Automatic Coming?
The big problem for me, no automatic transmission. Now I got a very muted response to that question as lots of people at Citroen that Hey, where’s the automatic? And you know, I got little murmurs and little mumbly replies because there’s a general admission that there should have been one, there’s a general admission that they will be one at some point we didn’t see we’ll do more things in the future. But when? no admission on that, so it seems like we should have won by next year. It should have been here at launch. And here’s why. This is a car that competes in a very competitive segment. In that segment, the off take for automatics has gone from 15 to almost 20% Depending on the model, car like Grand i10, for example. So you could really shine because you know, that’s an AMT, Tata Punch AMT, even the Baleno AMT you could have a very nice automatic in this particular car that shines above those. And now comes the second part 15 to 20% of the whole portfolio, you think, okay, you know, I’m still playing in 80% or 85% of the market, but Citroen doesn’t have the network of Hyundai, Tata or Maruti. And so the cities that it is present in, well guess what, that 15% automatic, that demand comes from the big cities. That’s where Citroens playing so it’s by a pool is actually way more skewed towards automatic than what you might think. So not having it at the start. Big Miss!
Bringing an auto next year will be late in my opinion. There really should have been one at the start. I also checked out the ride quality and comfort in the back seat while on the move by the way.
Citroen C3 Verdict
So time for a bottom line I think it’s all about the positioning. I said that in my first impression I’m going to say it again. There’s lots of things to like about this car. There’s lots of things that you might find fault with. It will come down to pricing so where should Citroen really put this car in terms of price? It’s a million-dollar question or maybe a four and a half lakh rupee question? Because if you look at the market today, this will have to take on everything from a Kwid at one end to a Kiger at the other end, in many ways because the buyer, they overlap on all of these different segments, maybe even the Baleno and the i20 buyer might be interested. Does that mean that it should be premium in its pricing? No. I think the whole idea should be to say hey, you get all of this – this big, modern, nice little gadgets, good amount of connectivity and tech and some great looks and design, but for prices that you can’t believe. So I feel it should be priced at about four and a half lakh rupees starting. If it can go lower than that some people are saying 3.99. That may be a little bit tough to do. But for ₹ 4.5 lakh starting would be an absolute cat amongst the pigeons and topping off under ₹ 6 lakh for everything, the alloy wheels, and the works.
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So, the turbo could start around ₹ 5.75 lakh, but with the lower powered version, the play needs to be aggressive. Given the cost savings, clever innovations like the two engines, and even some glaring omissions, that price should be gettable for Citroen.
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