Citroen C5 Aircross likely for Oz

The all-new Citroen C5 Aircross has been revealed in European guise overnight and it could come to Australia next year.

First seen at the 2017 Beijing motor show, the all-new French SUV is under consideration for release in Australia, where it would become Citroen’s first direct rival for top-selling mid-size SUVs like the Mazda CX-5.

“The vehicle is under study for the local market,” said Citroen Australia spokesman Tyson Bowen. “It would be a great addition to the local line-up.”

We understand that if it’s given the green-light for Australia, which appears odds-on, the Citroen C5 Aircross will arrive in local showrooms sometime next year.

The C5 Aircross is not to be confused with the smaller C3 Aircross, which will join Citroen’s new crossover-style C3 small car Down Under by late this year or early next.

Citroen’s C3 Aircross is effectively to the C3 what Peugeot’s 3008 is to the 308.

Nor should the C5 Aircross be considered a replacement for the old C4 Aircross, which like the Peugeot 4008 was based on Mitsubishi’s ASX. That role now falls to the C4 Cactus, Citroen’s only existing SUV.

The new Aircross models will be positioned either side of it in an expanded Citroen SUV line-up and should be crucial to the historic French brand’s future in Australia, where it sold just 755 vehicles last year, led by the small Berlingo commercial van.

Apart from the new C3, in the absence of regular C4 and C5 models, the only Citroen passenger car available in Australia is the C4 Grand Picasso people-mover.

As the latest salvo in Citroen’s international SUV offensive, the C5 Aircross has already found more than 40,000 homes in China, while the C3 Aircross B-SUV has generated more than 80,000 sales since its global launch late last year.

Based on the PSA Group’s latest EMP2 platform, the C5 Aircross is claimed to be the most comfortable model in the mid-size C-SUV segment, which now accounts for a quarter of all car sales globally.

This is thanks to the Citroen Advanced Comfort program comprising Advanced Comfort seats and Progressive Hydraulic Cushions suspension comprising hydraulic bump stops for both rebound and compression.

Citroen Europe is also claiming class-leading cargo space (580 litres, expanding to 1630) and “unrivalled modularity” with three individual sliding, folding and reclining rear seats.

In Europe, the Citroen C5 Aircross will be available in 30 exterior colour combinations, 20 driver assistance systems (including Highway Driver Assist and Grip Control) and six connectivity technologies such as wireless smartphone charging.

Importantly, by late 2019, it will also become the first Citroen available with a plug-in hybrid powertrain – although it’s unlikely to be offered Down Under in the medium term.

Other key features of the 4.5m-long, five-seat C5 Aircross include 230mm of ground clearance, wheel sizes up to 19-inch, Citroen’s trademark bodyside Airbump panels, a 12.3-inch TFT digital instrument cluster and 8.0-inch central touch-screen.

Matched to either six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmissions will be two 1.2-litre PureTech turbo-petrol engines (95 and 132kW) and three 1.6-litre BlueHDi turbo-diesels with the same power outputs.

The Citroen C5 Aircross PHEV, meantime, combines a 150kW petrol engine with an electric motor at each end of the car to deliver 300kW, all-wheel drive capability and a 60km EV range.