The new Citroen C3 gets wacky decals *and* wood trim
This is the new Citroen C3. Well, it’s a very mildly updated version of a C3 liked by both us and, it seems, you. A stocky 750,000 have been sold since it first appeared at the end of 2016. Tremendously good going when you consider just how many rivals it has to ward off. It’s Citroen’s best-selling car.
Thus its mid-life nip’n’tuck has been kept rather tame. The front grille’s a bit fiddlier, the optional ‘Airbump’ thingies have a new shape to them and you can now have a slightly odd roof graphic.
It helps the C3 configurator offer a dizzying 97 different exterior design combinations (up from 36, pre-facelift) and unless you live in a second-floor flat and like looking longingly out the window at your car, we don’t fully understand the point. But we are old, and we are grumpy.
Happily, Citroen has catered for us too. ‘Advanced Comfort’ seats are borrowed from the C4 Cactus and C5 Aircross – where they are indeed comfortable – while you can now have something called TechWood on the dashboard. Missing the Rover 200? The new C3 is proudly, unexpectedly channelling its vibe.
Other newness comes in the form of optional front parking sensors and spanglier 17in alloy wheel designs while some of its forebear’s USPs – chiefly its in-built, connected dashcam, great for rumbling rogue valet parking antics, in our experience – remain intact. And nope, there still won’t be a fast one. Especially now Citroen’s quit rallying. Boo.
