Despite looking like an oversized sneaker, Citroën says the Aircross is all about the occupants’ physical and mental well-being and the joy of traveling. The plug-in hybrid concept will debut at the Shanghai Motor Show.
China is the perfect place to show off a car like this not only because they fancy SUVs a lot, but also because the Asian country accounts for 25% of their total sales and stands as Citroën’s number-one market.
The Aircross is quite a departure from the luxurious DS SUV we’ve seen before, and represents a step up from the much loved and super lightweight C4 Cactus.
Forget the crazy 22 inch tires made by Continental. Just tone down the interior by about 30% and this becomes an SUV Citroën could make tomorrow. It’s powered by the combination of a 1.6-liter turbo sending 218 horsepower to the front wheels and a 95 hp electric motor boosting the rear with 147 foot pounds of torque, the Aircross is rated at 166 British mpgs with an all-electric range of 31 miles.
Inside, you get four massive seats for maximum comfort and two 12-inch panoramic HD screens that can be merged into a single piece, with the possibility of one being transferred from passenger to passenger as well with a simple movement of the hand via a detector on the console. The seats are also equipped with microphones and speakers to make sure nothing can disturb a dialogue.
Citroën even put two webcams into the door frames that can act as our very own street view application. It’s all very social and all, but I have a feeling it won’t make it into production due to raising some privacy issues. But hey, that’s the beauty of concept cars! They don’t even have to be barely legal.
In essence, what we’re looking at here is a 313 horsepower French SUV with a funky interior, bold colors and Citroën’s signature Airbumps acting as bumpers.
Why not?
Contact the author at mate@jalopnik.com.