[streetfighter]

I am on the lookout for my next vehicle, and the C5 Aircross is certainly being considered. Will take the test drive coming week and will post an update. I did see one on the road last weekend in South Mumbai and I liked it.
I do understand that this Aircross is certainly priced on the higher side, but if the heart wins over, I can consider the stretch. Since I keep my cars for long (my current Fiesta is 11+ years old) I'd want my next buy to be well built, decent performer and provide peace of mind. Citroen's dealer and commitment to India is still a question mark as the Mumbai dealer changed location in few months and I'm not sure if it is the same dealer at the new place.
From the Evo India video above and other reviews, what I gather is...
1. Diesel Manual - Jeep Compass
2. Diesel Automatic - C5 Aircross
3. Goodness of automatic + diesel + peace of service - Tucson (with an outdated design/model)

Life has never been so confused

[neofromcapone]

Citroen's new dealership, in Bombay, is coming up on New Link Road , Opposite Laxmi Industrial Estate.
Used to be the Nexa, then VW showroom.

I have a theory, Citroen doesn't actually want to sell C5 AirCross, hence the steep pricing.
It is using the C5 to build the company's infrastructure, dealerships and service network.
I think its a smart move, to ensure no teething problems with a mass product with a Sub-compact SUV, Premium hatch and a C-segment sedan.

Looks like Citroen is aiming for a slot in the top 5 car sales.

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by neofromcapone

Looks like Citroen is aiming for a slot in the top 5 car sales.

What? Doesn't seem realistic.

VW tried such strategy and they failed even with the top notch quality cars they kept offering at competitive price. You have to be aggressive like Hyundai-Kia to get success in India even with the mediocre products.

Not only the aggressive marketing but you also have to be aggressive in establishing lots of dealerships initially to ensure having enough competition between the dealers so that they are bound to offer better services to their consumers.

Fewer dealerships means monopoly of dealership owners in large area which make them arrogant and add into bad reputation of the brand as well. Once you get the badge of bad-boy, it takes decades to get rid of it. Skoda is one example of it.

[Venkatesh]

Citroen C5 Aircross real world fuel economy tested.

The good news is that this automatic is spinning at a lazy 1,500rpm in eighth gear while cruising at 100kph, but what’s interesting to note is that only the seventh and eighth gears are overdrive ratios.

Source

[GTO]

Wanted to spend some more time with the C5 Aircross to understand it better (my original test-drive was just a day). Called for the car for a couple of days in Bombay. Loved everything about it, except for the pricetag & rear legroom.

The ride quality is simply phenomenal. I was giggling with joy as I drove over bad roads . This is the perfect suspension tune Indian roads:

[Arreyosambha]

In the past 6 months since the launch, I've chanced across a grand total of ONE Citroën C5 on Delhi roads.

For context, in the same time frame, I've spotted 2 different Ferrari 812s.

[CircleOfLife]

I happen to see only 1 at Hyderabad. It looked striking. If it wasn’t the pricing fiasco then would have been a possible picks. With low volumes wonder how much dealers are taking a hit.

Recently I got a call from Hyderabad dealership. Conversation started and ended in one line. Are there any offers? No sir. Thank you for reaching out please do call if any good offers are offered.

It looked like company just wanted this as a branding exercise and didn’t want to sell volumes.

How did this workout? As GTO fairly pointed out French never understood Indian market. What holds their future here is C3 sales. Hope they don’t get greedy and price it sensibly to capture some pie of market share else this is another manufacturer that will exit our market.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by CircleOfLife

It looked like company just wanted this as a branding exercise and didn’t want to sell volumes.

I am not sure if this branding exercise is helping Citroen but it is definitely helping the sale of Jeep where the dealership are together. One of the Jeep SA in Bangalore was saying that people come and look at Citroen but end up booking Compass S Model AT 4x4 which is 4-5 lakhs cheaper.

[CircleOfLife]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

I am not sure if this branding exercise is helping Citroen but it is definitely helping the sale of Jeep where the dealership are together. One of the Jeep SA in Bangalore was saying that people come and look at Citroen but end up booking Compass S Model AT 4x4 which is 4-5 lakhs cheaper.

You are absolutely right on the money. I myself stepped into Jeep showroom post Citroen C5 pricing. Test drove Jeep but the vehicle didn't connect with me. I still liked the way Citroen C5 is tuned.

Flip side of this being both of the vehicles are from the same group, which means they couldn’t half stepped over each other shoes. Jeep as a brand was already well established, hence the positioning would have to be either lower or higher. With the package that is on offer and parent company being big brother, only way out was to position higher.

Having said that if intent was to sell in hoards Citroen could have provided discounts. Look at the way Tiguan All Space was discounted it made people sit up and realise the package on offer. Enthusiast thronged the showrooms and gave this a chance.

It’s sheer missed opportunity, once the market gets a different pulse and perception of a brand, it takes years and product that will turn head over heals with excellent value proposition to make a turn around.

With C3 Stellantis doesn’t have this conundrum. Jeep or any other brand from the group is not a player in that segment. Would be interesting to see how will they position and play it.

I do feel for the chaps at these showrooms. How do they earn incentive?

[KungFuPanda]

Need help with a predicament that I am facing. Currently own a 2018 Skoda Octavia VRS - driven about 25K Kms. Bought the car in Gurgaon in 2018, and thoroughly enjoyed driving around on the excellent roads there for about a year.

Mid 2019, work brought me to Mumbai. Got a company car (Innova) as a perk (thank god for small mercies), and the VRS became a weekend / outstation car which was fantastic. Had some brilliant drives to Pune, Mahabaleshwar, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Bhopal. The car served our family well, superb power on tap, hassle free ownership.

Now in 2021, with COVID impacting my industry, company gave us an option to let go of the company car and get some cash in hand, which i jumped at (maybe not my brightest moment :P). The VRS has been my daily drive for the past 2 months to work. 10 - 12 Kms one way, takes me anywhere from 30 mins to 45 mins each way every day. On the famed roads of Mumbai. On the stiff VRS suspension and the 17inch low profile rims. OUCH. And therefore here I am.

My current situation:
Car will be primarily used as a daily drive in Mumbai. And some outstation trips. Will be driven 90% by me. 10% by wifey. No driver - don't intent to keep one. We are a family of 4, 2 very young kids (3 yrs and 2 yrs).

My preferences:
Prefer Sedans. Always have, always will. That said, the sedan should make sense for my needs. When we bought the VRS, it very much did. Now life has changed, we have Kids to think about, and the VRS has moved from being a weekend affair to a daily love hate relationship. I love the DSG (i know I am a masochist), but I hate the ride. My butt is complaining so my head has woken up. My heart says I am nuts.
I also like keeping cars for 8 - 10 yrs. All our family cars have been with us for at least that long.
And, to top it all, the cash registers are not really ringing. Don't want to exceed my current EMIs of about 40K a month. Any option within that I am willing to consider.

So the million dollar question is:
Given my current situation, is it worth it to consider selling the VRS and getting the C5? Any other alternatives? Don't want the change to feel like a downgrade. Can't afford an upgrade. Like a typical TeamBHPian, I want the solution to all my problems without making too many compromises. Folks, please help! @GTO - your opinion will make a huge impact, would you care to take a crack at my predicament?

[sagpatel]

Originally Posted by KungFuPanda

Prefer Sedans.
So the million dollar question is:
Given my current situation, is it worth it to consider selling the VRS and getting the C5? Any other alternatives?

As far as I know C5 does not have any offers currently. And OTR price is ~39L in Mumbai.
Since you prefer Sedans, why don't you check out Audi A4. Couple of our members here have bought it for 39L OTR Mumbai.
C5 at ~39 L does not make sense to me at all.

[CircleOfLife]

Originally Posted by KungFuPanda

My preferences:
Prefer Sedans. Always have, always will. That said, the sedan should make sense for my needs. When we bought the VRS, it very much did. Now life has changed, we have Kids to think about, and the VRS has moved from being a weekend affair to a daily love hate relationship. I love the DSG (i know I am a masochist), but I hate the ride. My butt is complaining so my head has woken up. My heart says I am nuts.
I also like keeping cars for 8 - 10 yrs. All our family cars have been with us for at least that long.
And, to top it all, the cash registers are not really ringing. Don't want to exceed my current EMIs of about 40K a month. Any option within that I am willing to consider.

So the million dollar question is:
Given my current situation, is it worth it to consider selling the VRS and getting the C5? Any other alternatives? Don't want the change to feel like a downgrade. Can't afford an upgrade. Like a typical TeamBHPian, I want the solution to all my problems without making too many compromises. Folks, please help! @GTO - your opinion will make a huge impact, would you care to take a crack at my predicament?

Do have diesel Vs petrol preference for the next change?

Audi A4 doesn’t have similar discount like last month. If you could wait upto Diwali should be able to get similar deals. My money is here if you want to move to luxury market.

Skoda superb is a good option, if you don’t have any restrictions with the length of the car.

C5 is a very competent car. I personally will not plonk any money with out significant discounts.

Tiguan 5 seater should hit market sooner. No discount will be on offer during initial months.

Give the kids and need for a family car then Audi Q2 even with discounts might not be ideal option. Still take a test drive.

Overpriced Jeep Compass diesel is very good contender. I understand sedan is preference and compass will not give thrills of a DSG, but will be little closer. Just give a shot.

Are you open to used car market?

[KungFuPanda]

Thanks for the responses so far.

Don't think of either the A4 or the Superb as viable options. I feel it will be more of the same?

Totally open to Diesel. Will significantly reduce my running costs as right now I am getting a 8KMPL on Shell V Power at approx. 120/Ltr.

Not thrilled about used cars at this point.

[streetfighter]

I stepped into the Citroen showroom at Andheri (Mumbai) and was mighty impressed with the car. It is quite a looker, build looks solid, more spacious than compacts and not as big as giants. Since it was late evening, raining and bad traffic outside, I did not take the test drive. One look at the C5 Aircross, and it is sure to steal your heart. The pricing doesn't fully justify the product though. I am looking forward to a test-drive soon and see if this works out.
I'm told, this dealership is being handled by PPS Motors Pvt Ltd, which is different from the earlier one at Atria mall (which has closed down). The dealership is just a week old are in the settling down mode.

[CEF_Beasts]

Originally Posted by KungFuPanda

Don't think of either the A4 or the Superb as viable options. I feel it will be more of the same?

Totally open to Diesel. Will significantly reduce my running costs as right now I am getting a 8KMPL on Shell V Power at approx. 120/Ltr.

If the A4 and Superb feel similar, then I guess take a look at the Toyota Camry, offers the best of both worlds! Excellent ride and is a lot better to drive than previous generations.

And the mileage you get in Mumbai traffic with the hybrid system will be similar to what the diesels offer. Not to forget the 8-year warranty now on the battery pack.