Affordable and chic Citroën C3 debuts in SA

Citroën has a new car with a familiar name. The C3 nomenclature belonged to a fashionista hatch, but now has been applied to a new baseline crossover priced at a competitive R229,900. 

The hatch is replaced by this quirky new crossover, which is built in India and was recently awarded the 2023 World Urban Car title by a panel of more than 100 automotive experts from 32 countries. 

At first glance, you can’t easily separate the C3 from the C3 Aircross, and which continues to be marketed alongside the debutant. Being 1,604mm tall, 3,981mm long, 1,733mm wide with a 2,540mm wheelbase makes the new C3 crossover 33mm lower, 161mm shorter and 23mm narrower. 

The new C3 also has 23mm less wheelbase than its larger cousin. It’s best thought of as a direct competitor to the Renault Kiger, Nissan Magnite and Mahindra XUV300 in the segment.

It’s an unusual reworking of the Citroën formula. Though it gets the signature stack of halogen lights, LED daytime running lamps and the option of garish two-tone paint themes, it’s a value proposition that goes against the reputation for premium textures that the company has worked hard to achieve and is still found in the C3 and C5 Aircross models.

The cabin is characterised by hard plastics and little noise cancellation measures, but it feels spacious for a family of four or five with a 315l boot. A colourful finish incorporating a chevron textured pattern on the dashboard reminds you of the brand’s quirkiness.

The thickly-padded seats are comfy, though, and there’s plenty of stowage space including a glovebox, centre console area and front and rear door pockets that hold 1l bottles. Slots for smartphone storage are also provided, and the devices are connected through bluetooth and USB ports.

A 26cm touchscreen colour-display screen can wirelessly mirror Apple CarPlay or Android Auto for accessing multimedia content and apps. There’s also a 17.8cm colour TFT cluster screen with up to six modes of colour schemes for the driver. It displays vehicle information such as a trip computer, fuel consumption and tyre pressure monitoring system.

Powering the C3 is a 1.2l naturally-aspirated three-cylinder engine with 61kW and 115Nm driving the front wheels through a five-speed manual transmission only. The engine isn’t punchy, but performance is fair. You need to work the engine to reach highway speeds, which gets noisy in the process.

It’s got a 30l fuel tank capacity which takes little money to fill up, and the company says it’ll consume 5.6l/100km on an average cycle. 

The ride quality is excellent, with damping that isn’t fazed by speed humps or road imperfections. On the highways the ride is settled, and the engine that can be heard at higher speeds isn’t defeated by steep inclines, requiring only one downshift to keep the momentum.

It’s fun to drive through fast corners, and though it wallows a little, there’s enough front-end grip to cover ground quickly and safely. It’s a good drive by segment standards, with light steering and pedals making it ideal for urban life.

Safety features include driver and passenger airbags, central locking, keyless entry, ABS brakes, and park distance control.

The first drive verdict is of a compelling new alternative in the booming segment. The basics of affordability, style and functionality are covered well, and we anticipate watching how South Africans will react to the typically niche French brand entering the econo-SUV domain.

The new Citroën C3 comes standard with a two year/30,000km service plan and five-year/100, 000km warranty. Service intervals are 10,000km.