The French automaker Groupe PSA was all set to enter the Indian market by introducing its Citroen C5 Aircross SUV in August this year. But the coronavirus pandemic situation has resulted in a delay and the company has recently announced that they are postponing the India launch of their SUV to the first quarter of 2021. Currently, India is under a 21-day lockdown period which may be extended to stop the spread of coronavirus.
As we reported earlier, the premium SUV will be brought to India as a CKD kit. Groupe PSA said that the Citroen C5 Aircross commercial launch has been rescheduled since the first quarter of 2021 is expected to be a more favourable period economically where consumer sentiments are more upbeat.
The decision of postponing the launch was taken after a discussion with the brand’s dealer partners. The SUV is expected to get a price tag of more than INR 28 lakh (ex-showroom). As per the details available, the brand does not plan on selling large numbers of this SUV in the first phase. The company is further planning to focus on made-in-India models from Citroen’s ‘C-cubed’ program.
The models that will be made under this concept will feature more local components, which means the much-talked-about C21 compact SUV could get a starting price tag of around INR 7 lakh as it will achieve 90-95% of localization.
The Citroen C5 Aircross would surely be pricier than SUVs like Tata Harrier and MG Hector, both of which are slightly larger than the 4.5-metre long Citroen. The brand claims that the SUV’s out-of-the-box design and an ultra-premium cabin will be able to attract the customers in India.
Mechanically, the car is expected to get a 1.5-litre diesel engine that will churn out 131HP of maximum power while a 2.0-litre diesel unit is also under consideration, and it would be good for 180HP of maximum power.
Citroen C5 Aircross SUV Photos
