Citroen’s Aircross concept previews new SUV lineup

So, following on from the success of the cute little C4 Cactus crossover (shortlisted for European Car Of The Year, recipient of numerous international design awards) Citroen is taking heart from the fact that the world seems to like its cars with the chevron badge to be rather chunkier.

Given that Citroen now must try to carve out a distinctive (and profitable) image for itself with conventional Peugeot on one side and ritzy DS on the other, SUVs would seem like a useful way to go, not least because that is apparently what every car buyer the world over craves.

So we have this – the Citroen Aircross concept, a preview of a new mid-size SUV (think Honda CR-V rival) but one that has been passed through a particularly Citroen-y filter.

Citroen feels that big, hefty cars like this don’t need to be aggressive, so the shape is all roundy-bits with a big, friendly face, one that even appears to be smiling. If you’ve seen the cartoon robot in Disney’s Big Hero Six, you are already ahead of Citroen’s curve here.

There are carry-overs from the C4 Cactus in the shape of narrow headlamps and a big, double-chevron grille and the plastic ‘Airbumps’ from the C4 have here become ‘Alloy Bumps’ – stronger and tougher to allow the Aircross toe shrug off off-road thumps and bumps. There are also some properly clever little innovations. That chrome ring around the side window? That’s called an ‘Air Sign’ and as well as being a styling feature, it actually works as an aerodynamic aid to smooth out the airflow.

Inside, the cabin is very minimal, with hardly any switches and two massive 12-inch HD screens to take care of whatever information and entertainment you may crave. They have gesture control, which allows info and images to be slid from one to the other with a quick wave of your hand. Rear seat passengers are considered as important as those in the front, so as well as raised up seating they get access to webcams mounted on the outside to take photos of whatever journey you happen to be on and share them on social media.

The Aircross is also our first look at Citroen’s plugin hybrid setup. PSA Group has ditched its much vaunted Hybrid Air technology (which used a motor to compress air into a tank, which would then be released to help drive the wheel) as it was proving too expensive to productionise. The Aircross’ plugin setup is therefore more conventional – a 1.6-litre petrol turbo engine and a 95hp electric motor. Combined the two have 313hp, meaning a 0-100kmh time of 4.5secs, Co2 emissions of 39g/km, fuel economy of 166mpg and a fully-charged electric-only range of 50km. Too good to be true? Possibly – concept car performance stats are, after all, not delivered under oath.

When will we see it on the road? Quite soon, we suspect although Citroen is saying only that it's a design concept for now. Its style should spread to a complete range of SUV-style cars very shortly though, from a small Nissan Juke rival all the way to a large seven-seater. Expect to see a production version of this one by 2017 at the latest.