SHANGHAI MOTOR SHOW: Citroen C5 Aircross leaked

Citroen's C5 Aircross has been leaked ahead of its official unveiling at the Shanghai motor show.

Created to be an alternative to the Nissan Qashqai, both images of the new production-ready C5 Aircross were leaked on Dutch car website autoweek.nl.

Inspired heavily by the Aircross concept that was revealed at the Shanghai show back in 2015, the small SUV ditches the show car's pillar design and loses its rear-hinged 'suicide' doors for a pair of conventional doors.

Featuring the original concept's 'Airbumps' that are mounted on the lower half of the doors, the latest Citroen SUV shares many design cues with both the C3 supermini and this year's Geneva motor show's C-Aircross concept.

Inside, according to the new pics the production C5 Aircross will share is virtual dash, infotainment system, minor switchgear and even gear selector with the Peugeot's 3008 SUV.

Expected to go on sale first in China early 2018 and built in cooperation with Group PSA's Chinese partner, Dongfeng, the C5 will be launched globally in 2019.

Speaking to an insider, at this year's Geneva motor show, the C5 Aircross has been developed to focus on comfort and will come with the French car maker's new suspension system that replaces the old pneumatic suspension for soft springs and hydraulic bump stops and active dampers.

The result, the insider told motoring.com.au, is a car that rides like an old American car but with far better body control and damping.

Under the bonnet, the new SUV will come with a new range of petrol PureTech small capacity turbos that are currently available in other Citroen and Peugeot models.

All will be combined with the car-maker’s new eight-speed automatic.

Later on, the C5 Aircross will also come with a plug-in hybrid option and will be one of the first models in the Citroen range to offer a semi-autonomous cruise control that will steer, accelerate and brake in traffic and at highway speeds.

It's not certain, following its launch in Europe in 2019, the C5 Aircross will make it Down Under.

It's fate, is said to be linked to the success (or failure) of other new models like the C3 supermini that's due to be launched here at the beginning of the third quarter of 2017.