Chic, sleek C3 puts Citroen in prime position for 2017 sales

IF comfort, economy and chic appeal are your priorities, then the new Citroen C3 (inset) is well worth putting on your shopping list.

And if you are a low mileage driver think petrol — the award-winning PureTech petrol engines here will save you as much as €2,400 at entry level prices.

At the launch of the C3, Citroen Ireland marketing manager, Louise Murphy, illustrated the benefit of going down the petrol route by saying that to cover the step-up price from petrol to diesel power would take 165,000kms to get your money back at the pumps.

For the average Irish driver this would equate to eight years behind the wheel based on 26,000kms a year,

With the growing interest in small three-cylinder petrol engines, Citroen, long-associated with state of the art diesel technology, now believes that 65 per cent of the C3 sales will be petrol units next year. While the underpinnings in the C3 are not as advanced as competitors such as the Ford Fiesta, it is engineered for a safe, unruffled drive.

Seats are comfortable, head and legroom good up front but long-legged occupants will compromise space in the rear. The boot space is a decent 300 litres. On the Touch entry level version — which starts at €15,490 for the 1.2 litre 68bhp PureTech and €17,890 for the 1.6 HDi 75bhp diesel — there is handsfree Bluetooth, USB for media streaming, lane departure warning and cruise control.

Go up to the next level, Feel, to get the more powerful 82bhp PureTech engine at €17,590, and diesel HDi 75bhp coming in at €19,390, and alloy wheels, LED daytime running lights, Mirror Screen and Apple Car Play, 7” touchscreen and automatic air conditioning added. The top of the range Flair gets the choice of a an 82bhp or 110bhp PureTech engines or a 100bhp HDi diesel with stop/start. Prices for the Flair trim range from €18,990 to €22,190 and at this level 17” alloy wheels, automatic lights and wipers, rear parking sensors and reversing camera are added.

Also available is CAM Citroen, an advanced fully integrated camera located behind the rear view mirror.

Keyless entry, 3D navigation and blind spot monitoring are also on offer.