Citroen Aircross Concept – it’s a Cactus-inspired compact SUV

A new Citroen Aircross Concept is revealed for the 2015 Shanghai Motor Show, taking the Citroen Cactus’s styling and applying it to a compact SUV.

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A Citroen Aircross isn’t exactly new – we had a C3 Picasso-based one in 2010 and a C4 Aircross in 2011 – but Citroen has rolled out the Aircross moniker once again for a rufty-tufty compact SUV concept.

This 2015 Aircross Concept has taken the ‘lumps and bumps’ design language of the Citroen Cactus and applied it to a compact SUV, with Citroen claiming it’s a cuddly SUV complete with itsanti-ding lumps and bumps made from absorbent aluminium foam.

At the front, the Aircross looks quite like the C4 Picasso, there’s extractor vents round the wheelarches, cutouts in the door mirrors, big show-off alloys and ‘airsigns’ to direct air flow. It’s quite concepty, but that’s what we thought about the Cactus.

Inside shouts concept too, with almost no switchgear, a pair of 12″ HD screens (which can be moved around), a heads-up display, touchpads to control functions, four individual seats (with microphones and speakers), webcams and lots of straps. Just what you need.

Under the skin the Aircross gets a 218bhp petrol engine to power the front wheels and a 95bhp electric motor for the back axle, with a theoretical Electric-only range of 30 miles and impressive performance – 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds – coupled with barking mad economy numbers – 166mpg and 39g/km.

The Citroen Aircross may be dubbed a concept, but it’s surely no coincidence it takes its design cues from the Cactus and debuts at the Shanghai Motor Show – the home show for market that’s Citroen’s salvation and a market that loves an SUV.