[07CR]

Originally Posted by HammerHead

Another excellent review!!
Given the fact that Citroen C5 will be compared to Harrier/Safari duo, what according to you would be the 'justifiable' price difference over a equally equipped Harrier?

I am not really sure you can call Harrier "Equally well equipped" as the Citroen C5 Aircross.

C5 Aircross for reference gets the following over Harrier-

LED Headlamps
EPB
Dual Zone AC
Ambient lighting
Front parking sensors (front and rear also gets 6 each vs Harrier's 4)
Auto Parking for Parallel parks
Blindspot monitoring system
Paddle shifts
Heated mirrors
All 4 power windows one touch UP and Down
Handsfree electric tail gate
Passenger seat height adjustment
Air Quality system (Air Purifier)
Puddle lamps
TPMS
Electric Child locks for rear doors

[anumod]

First of all thank you for touching all the minute details in the review. I think Citroen has a winner on paper. But I believe, they need someone from Kia or Hyundai to make it as a winner in the Market. If they take someone from Fiat for marketing and sales, I don't need to explain more. I really loved the car, especially from the practical angles (other than the rear leg room ). The suspension, three bucket seats , boot space should be the selling points. They need to price it well and need to give a good extended warranty and service plan as well. All the best Citroen. Let more good cars come to Indian roads ..

[BrakingBad]

The seats looks a bit like after market seat covers and 2 different materials with varying shades of grey, is kind of spoiler to the premium feeling. To the overall the interior colour and seat covers reminded me of my 2004 Santro xing.- this is my personal view based on photos.

[Venkatesh]

Interview with Roland Bouchara, Senior VP (Sales and Marketing), about Citroen India entry, developing dealer network, focus on comfort and more

https://youtu.be/CeHDkNz7LVE

[AMG Power]

Originally Posted by GTO

depth of engineering. In terms of build (it's s-o-l-i-d), engine, gearbox, suspension & NVH, the Citroen is either the best in class, or second best.

And that’s where Citroen have goofed up big time.

Indians don’t care about depth of engineering. Forget engineering, they don’t care about depth in any area.

We like everything in our face - A 11 inch screen on the dash in place of high quality NVH materials in the firewall. Christmas lights on the front, back and everywhere else in place of 4 or 5 star crash rating. Sun roofs in place of torsional rigidity. Flashy alloys in place of multi link suspension systems. A BOSE music system with the name written all over the car in place of an actually good system.

Hence even if the C5 Aircross is priced at the same level as Seltos or Creta it still will not sell more than either of them.

So let’s not ignore the elephant in the room. Citroen aren’t going anywhere with the C5 Aircross however good it may be.

After all the initial hype and hoopla is over the car is going to be DOA. Even with price corrections this car isn’t going to sell.

French design is an acquired taste and Indians don’t have the time to acquire taste.

It’s the difference between Boeuf Bourguignon and Chicken Tikka Masala.

[Asworstos]

Making my first post and I just want to say hi to all and thanks to Aditya and GTO for the very detailed review, which I can say without flattery that I enjoyed reading more than any of the reviews I've seen on any site thus far. I'm contributing some observations from across the pond and hope it might make for some interesting perspective.

The C5 Aircross has been on sale here in Singapore since June 2019, and it hasn't sold well at all. We get two variants, the Shine and Shine Plus (sigh...), both powered only by a 1.6-litre THP turbo petrol producing 178bhp and 250Nm.
I was invited to test drive it (all the way back to my workplace, no less!) during a service appointment one day and, to be honest, I was not very impressed. As mentioned here, I found space to be a bother, not just in the back, but also in the front where the relative "closeness" of the driver environment made it feel cramped. The 1.6 turbo petrol isn't very fast either and doesn't feel like 178 horses. I estimated 0-100 at slightly south of 10 seconds. Those who took the plunge are reporting fuel consumption of about 9-10kmpl, which is quite mediocre, too. Diesel is definitely the way to go for this one.

Of course, there are some other factors to consider:
- For me to mention pricing would be meaningless, so I'll just say that you can have a Tucson and even a Seltos (!) for slightly less. The biggest threat to the C5 Aircross is its own stablemate - the Peugeot 3008 - has a less quirky interior, costs about the same, but has the all-important option of PSA's excellent 1.2-litre PureTech turbo which is not a lot slower than the 1.6 but saves quite a bit in road taxes. No surprise that it has run rings around its sibling in sales.

- Citroen built its reputation here on the back of the C4 Picasso/Spacetourer, which was quite successful and even cornered the market for 5-seater diesel MPVs at one point. But as an SUV, the C5 Aircross simply pales in comparison to the Picasso for practicality, and competitor SUVs such as the Mitsubishi Outlander and MG HS are either cheaper and offer the space Singaporeans are looking for, or just as well-built but more well-rounded.

- I'm not sure if the India-spec C5 Aircross uses SCR (AdBlue), but if it does, I'd advise caution regarding long-term reliability. PSA diesel products sold in Singapore use AdBlue, and their system is beset with problems, which is partly why they stopped selling diesel here. A large number of owners of diesel Picassos and Peugeot 3008/5008s have had to replace the AdBlue tank and pump at astronomical prices (just over a lakh) once out of warranty, some having replaced them multiple times! Also, the local Citroen distributor has not been very helpful in this regard and is just helping PSA squander the goodwill they have built up... but that's another story.

So I hope that Indian pricing is bang-on target and PSA has really thought their strategy through after going through all the trouble of setting up a factory. And if anyone is considering buying this, you can be assured that while the legroom is not spectacular, and the car is packed with little French quirks, the biggest sells will be NVH and ride quality. As an ex-Citroen owner, let me assure you that Citroen will take on all comers in this area!

[V8toV12_]

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[LONG_TOURER]

I think C5 aircross is a direct competetor to Hyundai Tucson as both the vehicles offer comfortable ride quality as their USP. As both of the cars come with 8 speed auto and a 400NM engine, it would be difficult to choose the right one ( ofcourse if C5 aircross undercuts the Tuscon in terms of pricing).

[abhijet.sen]

Originally Posted by LONG_TOURER

I think C5 aircross is a direct competetor to Hyundai Tucson as both the vehicles offer comfortable ride quality as their USP. As both of the cars come with 8 speed auto and a 400NM engine, it would be difficult to choose the right one ( ofcourse if C5 aircross undercuts the Tuscon in terms of pricing).

If initial indications/rumours are true C5 will be more expensive than Tucson. At that price point, its saleability will not be good as it has to compete with Fortuner and not the segment below it. Barring Compass, all other mid-size SUVs in Indian market will be significantly cheaper. Moreover, Harrier/Hector/XUV 500 will be significantly bigger despite being cheaper. If Citroen can undercut Compass, which is highly unlikely, it will be super success (even bigger than Hector and Seltos).

[Venkatesh]

Citroen La Maison showroom opened in Chennai. Here's a glimpse of its inauguration









Link

[lurker]

It is going to be a bit too tempting to resist for many middle-class Indians the chic french appeal of this european marquee dangling in front of them. The smattering of designer french in front of the showrooms shall also appeal to these latent pretensions. It is going to prove a tough fight for the harrier, safari, xuv, scorpio, tucson though the harrier seems to a tad larger and wider and may just escape the french assault.

[yosbert]

After going through the review, it seems to be a confused attempt from Citroen. For a car with self proclaimed USP of comfort, why compromise on the rear seat legroom, shoulder room and recline angles? Not to mention the front passenger manual seat adjustments. To think that most of these issues are easy to solve with a little more application, I do not feel that Citroen are serious about Indian market.
I feel these will be deal breaker for many potential customers especially when you are asking them to pay 30 big ones.
Another personal gripe I have is about the color of the upholstery which reminds me so much of my old Santro .

[streetfighter]

My observations:

• Citroen is using the C5 Aircross as a brand building exercise (as a luxury aspirational brand) and don't intend to sell it in large numbers. They instead will focus on their next mass-market product which should be priced/specd competitively.

• Citroen will use the time to localise content as well as increase the dealer network meanwhile.

• About the C5, the sliding 2nd row is just a marketing gimmick as the slide is "not enhancing any space". Rather if you slide forward (the only direction it slides), one will be decreasing the legroom in front.

[roamer012]

Originally Posted by Asworstos

- I'm not sure if the India-spec C5 Aircross uses SCR (AdBlue), but if it does, I'd advise caution regarding long-term reliability. PSA diesel products sold in Singapore use AdBlue, and their system is beset with problems, which is partly why they stopped selling diesel here. A large number of owners of diesel Picassos and Peugeot 3008/5008s have had to replace the AdBlue tank and pump at astronomical prices (just over a lakh) once out of warranty, some having replaced them multiple times! Also, the local Citroen distributor has not been very helpful in this regard and is just helping PSA squander the goodwill they have built up... but that's another story.

OT: Talk about negative publicity and not doing right by your customers, any person reading this or researching this matter will automatically have Citroen removed from their shopping list.

Although what I could find was that the models quoted above have 1.6 L engine while the one being launched in India is a 2.0 L unit. I am only assuming that the AdBlue tank and pump will not be the same parts between the two counterparts.

[varunswnt]

7:25 - demonstration of seat belt warning chime and indicator for 2nd row passengers.

https://youtu.be/Xk4B_MuQSmY