Citroen Grand Cactus for 2018 launch

Citroen is gearing up for the launch of a new SUV. The Citroen Grand Cactus – or the Citroen C4 Aircross as it could yet be called – will enter production in 2018.

No technical details have been revealed, but the production car will be related to the new Peugeot 5008, which will go on sale later this year. That means it’s likely to share the Peugeot’s 1.2 and 1.6-litre petrol engines and 1.6 and 2.0-litre diesels.

A four-wheel-drive option is likely to be offered, but we expect two-wheel-drive models to be fitted with the same Grip Control system used on the Peugeot 3008 SUV for additional traction. That means the Citroen should be able to compete with models like the Nissan X-Trail both in terms of size and off-road ability.

It’s not known whether the production version will be fitted with the same plug-in hybrid engine and motor combination as the Aircross concept. Here, a 218bhp 1.6-litre petrol engine was paired with a 95bhp electric motor mounted in the rear. Citroen says the concept is capable of 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds, an all-electric range of 31 miles, CO2 emissions of 39g/km and a claimed 166mpg.

The Aircross concept is similar in size to the Hyundai Santa Fe, but the production car won’t have such a high stance or feature the concept’s 22-inch alloy wheels. Design elements that are more likely to find their way to the production car include the double headlight arrangement and the black windscreen pillars that make roof appear to float.

The Grand Cactus’ protective Airbumps will be smaller than those found on the C4 Cactus, but will be a common feature on most new Citroens launching over the coming years.

Those backward-opening rear doors won’t make it to production, either, but we can expect a similarly minimalist interior as the C4 Cactus. In that model, there’s a simple digital display for the main instrumentation and a second screen for the infotainment and heating controls.

The Citroen C4 Aircross will be built in the same factory as the standard Citroen C4 Cactus and the electric e-Mehari Mini Moke-alike, pushing production there to 100,000 cars a year.

This won’t be the first time Citroen has entered the family SUV market. The Citroen C-Crosser has that accolade; the slow-selling model was produced in conjunction with Peugeot and Mitsubishi.

No official Citroen C4 Aircross pricing has been announced, but a figure of around £25,000 would place it slap bang in the middle of key rivals such as the Skoda Kodiaq, Nissan X-Trail and Hyundai Santa Fe.