Is Basalt SUV the most serious offering from Citroen India yet?

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Citroen India is still one of the newest players in the Indian car market. The French manufacturer under the Stellantis Group touched down here in September of 2021 with the premium C5 Aircross and followed it up with the C3 hatchback, eC3 electric car and the C3 Aircross. But the presence of the brand has so far been a bit of a hit and miss even though the Citroen Basalt SUV is looking at changing all of that.

The Citroen Basalt, expected to officially launch later this month, is a mid-size SUV that has a coupe profile and banks on its exterior design language and respectable feature list to impress potential buyers. While it will lock horns against some very formidable and well-entrenched players in the segment - like Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, MG Hector, Honda Elevate, Skoda Kushaq, Volkswagen Taigun, Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara, Toyota Hyryder, among others, it will have the distinction of being only one of two coupe SUVs. The other will be the Tata Curvv and Curvv EV, also launching this festive period.

Watch: Citroen Basalt: What does the Tata Curvv coupe SUV rival offer

Citroen Basalt: What are the engine specifications?

The Citroen Basalt gets the 1.2-litre naturally-aspirated petrol motor and the 1.2-litre turbo petrol motor from the C3 Aircross. While the former is paired to a five-speed manual gearbox only, the turbo engine will come paired either with the manual stick or a six-speed automatic gearbox. The turbo motor will offer 108 bhp and 190 Nm of torque while the other engine puts out 81 bhp and 115 Nm of torque.

Citroen Basalt: What are the styling highlights?

The Basalt gets projector LED headlight units, LED DRLs and fog lamp units on its face. The SUV stands on 16-inch alloy wheels and has a tapered roofline towards the last quarter of its side profile. The rear comes equipped with halogen taillights with 3D effect.

Citroen Basalt: What are the cabin highlights?

The Citroen Basalt will get a 10.25-inch infotainment screen, a seven-inch all-digital driver display, automatic climate control, 15W wireless charging pad, multiple ports for additional charging options, wireless support for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and mobile application support/pairing, among others. The safety features on the Basalt include six airbags as standard, ESP, Hill-Hold and rear-parking assist.