Citroen C5 Aircross

Citroen kicks off its Indian innings with its Compass and Tucson rival

- Sirish Chandran

COMFORT. IF THERE IS ONE THING Citroen wants to be known for apart from being obviously French, it is for delivering comfort. All their communication, everything revolves around comfort and after a day with the Citroen C5 Aircross (Aircross is Citroenspeak for SUV), I can tell you that comfort isn’t mere marketing talk. This is Citroen’s global flagship, their brand shaper before the mass-market cars roll out next year and it does an absolutely wonderful job of delivering on comfort. Ride comfort, seat comfort, driving comfort, noise insulation, the C5 takes the stress out of driving. Even the annoying speed warning has a comfortable tone to it. This test, then, is about the Thrill of Chilling.

Let’s start with the styling which is quite the departure from massive grilles and macho posturing that’s the norm with SUVs. Now I wouldn’t go so far as to call the C5 Aircross pretty — nobody seems to want pretty cars anymore — but I will say that the softcurves, well-proportioned stance, and right amount of detailing comes as a breath of fresh air. Citroen’s double chevrons extend into the full width of the nose, splitting the headlights with a narrow LED strip sitting atop the main beam, halogen on the Feel spec we are testing here, LED on the Shine variant. The latter also gets a panoramic sunroof and remote tailgate while both variants get 3D-effect LED taillamps, 18-inch wheels that fill out the wheel arches and neat touches like the red-ringed anodised sections that emphasise the air dam. You will also notice red accents on the side skirts, Citroen calls them Airbumps, and there are red accents on the roof rails that contrast well with the blacked-out roof.