What's the news?
It's the third-generation Citroen C3 hatchback and doesn't it look great? All fresh and funky, with clear lashings of C4 Cactus inspiration mixed in, it's due on sale in early 2017. Here's the lowdown on the newcomer.
Exterior
You'll notice that Citroen's futuristic face, as seen on the Grand C4 Picasso and C4 Cactus models, has been grafted onto the C3. This makes it look excellent. The daytime running lights ensconced in the conk are LED affairs and the double-chevron grille badge is extended out to meet them. Protective bodywork at the front blends into the C3's sides, where you will see the most obvious Cactus reference in the form of a strip of Airbumps on the lower portions of the doors, while the blacked-out A-pillars give the car a 'floating' roof. At the rear, 3D lamp clusters and robust bumper cladding help to complete a very appealing picture.
Like any good B-segment contender, the C3 offers a wide array of personalisation options, such as the ability to paint the body one of nine colours and the roof in a further three, leading to 36 possible exterior combinations. White, black and red are your roof shades and if you opt for any of them, then details such as the front fog light surrounds, the door mirrors, the rear quarter panels and the Airbump details are finished in the same hue to give the Citroen some eye-catching colour accents. At slightly less than four metres long and 1.75 metres wide, Citroen also says the C3 has a roof 40mm lower than the previous model, allowing it to cut through the air with ease.
Interior
More Cactus links in here, what with those simple door pulls and the Airbump design of the door cards. A horizontal dashboard features the seven-inch touchscreen that PSA cars are becoming renowned for, while the air vents have a dash of chrome to highlight their centres. Various finishes are offered for different elements of the cabin and four main ambience packages will be offered too.
Perhaps most encouragingly, the Citroen Advanced Comfort programme - which recently gave us the new suspension set-up for the Cactus - has been injected into the C3, to ensure 'human on-board wellbeing'; so the seats are designed to be particularly plush, there's 20mm more shoulder room within compared to the old model, the front seats are shaped in such a way that rear-seat occupants get the best view of the road ahead, and there's a big panoramic sunroof to flood light into the passenger compartment.
A 300-litre boot resides out back and the C3 is launching as a five-door model, so it's practical, but a new feature for the brand here is ConnectedCAM Citroen. This is a wide-angle (120-degree) full HD, two-megapixel camera with GPS and a 16GB internal memory. Mounted behind the rear-view mirror, the ConnectedCAM serves two purposes: first, the driver can click or hold a button to either take photos or capture video footage of up to 20 seconds, either as keepsakes (if you're on a really spectacular road, for example) or to share on social media; and second, in the event of a crash, it automatically activates and can take up to one-and-a-half minutes' worth of footage (30 seconds prior, 60 seconds after) to be used as evidence.
Mechanicals
The PSA Group platform was optimised for the C3, with ‘advanced’ suspension and high levels of soundproofing promising impressive refinement. Motive power comes from a range of PureTech three-cylinder petrol and BlueHDi four-cylinder diesel engines: choose from 68-, 82- or 110hp (the latter with Stop & Start) for the 1.2-litre petrols; and either 75- or 100hp for the 1.6-litre diesels, both of which have Stop & Start. A manual gearbox is the standard transmission but a six-speed EAT6 automatic will be an option. Driving aids and safety assist systems will be offered across the C3 line-up.
Anything else?
Citroën has sold 3.6 million C3s across two generations since it launched as the Saxo replacement in 2002 and this is an important car for the brand – it’s the first new model unveiled since DS was hived off to become a separate entity. Citroën needs to prove it can do an affordable, youthful car with the sort of appeal of the DS 3, but one which wears double chevrons, and the C3 is it. Thus, Linda Jackson, Citroën’s CEO, said: “The new C3 has all the Citroën values and all the qualities to give the brand new impetus, which is especially important as the previous model accounted for almost one in five sales in Europe. A comfortable car with real personality, it is set to appeal to new customers looking for a modern car with character.”