Citroen forayed into the mass-market mid-size SUV space earlier in September this year when it launched the C3 Aircross in the country. While aggressively priced, the C3 Aircross misses out on quite a few features that rivals in the segment offer. An automatic gearbox is probably the biggest miss by the French carmaker.
Recently, test units of the C3 Aircross were spied conducting trial runs in the Himalayas. The test mule was clicked in the Rohtang Valley in Himachal Pradesh. We believe it could be the variant with the automatic gearbox. Reportedly, Citroen is planning to introduce an automatic transmission in the C3 Aircross in the near future.
In fact, the French carmaker even showcased an automatic variant of the C3 Aircross at the 2023 Indonesia International Auto Show in August this year. More significantly, the prototype showcased was made by Citroen in India. The test mule spotted in the Himalayas wasn’t wearing any camouflages and flaunted the exact same design as the C3 Aircross currently on sale in India.
Citroen C3 Aircross expected automatic specs
The Indonesian automatic version of the C3 Aircross comes with a 6-speed torque converter automatic gearbox. Mated to the 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol motor, this setup produces the exact same 109 horses as the manual variant, however, peak torque output is increased by 15 Nm to 205 Nm.
With the manual gearbox, C3 Aircross claims a fuel efficiency of 18.5 kmpl and with the automatic gearbox, it claims 17.5 kmpl. For the automatic, the C3 Aircross gets a conventional gear shifter with no provision of paddle shifters behind the steering wheel. In India, the automatic variant of C3 Aircross could get a toggle-like drive selector that is available in the eC3 and the C5 Aircross.
Interestingly, Citroen also introduced an automatic version of the C3 Aircross in Brazil recently. However, it was very different from the Indonesian-spec. The Brazilian C3 Aircross comes with a 1.0-litre 3-cylinder turbo petrol engine with a 4V per cylinder layout. Called T200 or MultiAir III, this power mill falls under Fiat’s Global Small Engine (GSE) range, also known as Firefly range. This engine is paired with a 7-step CVT automatic gearbox.
This flexi-fuel powertrain generates 128 bhp at 5750 RPM when running on 100% ethanol and 123 bhp on petrol. Peak torque is rated at 200 Nm at 1750 rpm for both applications. However, all these are merely speculations at this point of time. We need to await the official word from the manufacturer which is expected closer to the car’s launch, most probably by the end of FY2024.
