Cross to bear

The introduction of an automatic transmission does address a major shortcoming of the Citroen C3 Aircross, but can that help buyers look past its other flaws, or are they too heavy a cross to bear?

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When we first drove the Citroen C3 Aircross last year, the lack of an automatic transmission option stood out like a sore thumb. That particular shortcoming has been addressed with the introduction of the ‘Automatique’ variant and that too at a price that makes it one of the most affordable automatic SUVs in its segment.

The transmission in question is a 6-speed torque converter paired with the 1.2-litre turbo petrol. Compared to the manual variant, while max power output remains unchanged at 110bhp, torque has gone up by 15Nm to 205Nm. That’s not the highest in the segment on the whole, but higher than anything else its rivals offers at this price point – 1.5 NA petrol from Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki, MG and Honda, and VW’s 1.0 TSI. So, pricing and torque figures are certainly on Citroen’s side. The driving experience is quite likeable, both in the city and at highway speeds. We already like the 1.2-litre turbo that the C3 Aircross employs and with the addition of this 6-speed AT, the combination does an impressive job overall. It feels brisk enough and responsive enough to not give most users anything to complain about.