Citroen unveils C4 Aircross SUV

Citroen has unveiled its C4 Aircross, a rival for the Ford Kuga, Nissan Qashqai and VW Tiguan, which will go on sale in 2012.

The Aircross carries plenty of the company's trademark styling much of which is taken from the larger C-Crosser SUV while most of its mechanical make-up is shared with the Mitsubishi ASX.

At 4.34m long, 1.8m wide and 1.63m high, the new model is a little longer than a Tiguan and roughly the same width. The VW is around 7cm taller.

The Aircross's boot is smaller than the Tiguan's, at 442 litres compared with the VW's 470 - but it's more than 80 litres larger than a Kuga's.

Citroen hasn't released full UK-specs for the Aircross, although it has indicated that only diesel engines are likely to be offered: a Citroen-sourced 110bhp 1.6-litre motor. A version with Mitsubishi's low-compression 148bhp 1.8-litre may also be offered.

Standard models are likely to be front-wheel drive, but a four-wheel-drive system will be available. It will offer three modes: front-drive, to improve fuel economy, automatic four-wheel drive, which can divert up to 50% of torque to the rear if it detects wheelspin, and a locked four-wheel drive, which forces the 50:50 split.

We'd expect the C4 Aircross to carry a premium over the ASX so expect prices to start from around 18,000.