Owing to its larger size, Citroen Basalt boasts the longest wheelbase and largest boot space, while still staying competitive price-wise
The sub 4m SUV has been booming as they bring sales and volumes that manufacturers crave along with decent profitability. With a size constraint of under 4m length, these vehicles fall under the B-segment tax bracket, except for the Brezza. But the Citroen Basalt has just crashed the party with a larger footprint, but matching the prices. How does it fare? Let’s take a look.
Citroen Basalt Vs Sub 4m SUVs – Pricing
Not only does Citroen Basalt tap into the niche Coupe SUV genre, but it also taps into the pricing of sub 4m SUVs. Vehicles in this segment cost between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 15.5 lakh (Ex-sh), depending on the brand, engine gearbox combinations and features list. Compact SUVs, on the other hand, cost between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 21 lakh (Ex-sh).
Citroen Basalt is a larger compact SUV sized vehicle, but it is charging into the sub 4m SUV pricing. This is a much-needed move by Citroen as the company had been registering uninspiring sales for a very long time. Aggressive pricing might work in the company’s favour and the sales influx might help keep the company afloat in India.
Starting from Rs 8 lakh (Ex-sh), there is no beating the value quotient of a Citroen Basalt when compared to other sub 4m SUVs. Nissan Magnite and Renault Kiger are still the most affordable starting from Rs 6 lakh (Ex-sh). Where top-spec Turbo manual variants are concerned, it is the Nissan Magnite that is the most affordable.
Notably, a few vehicles don’t even offer a manual gearbox option with their top-spec variants. Sticking to Citroen Basalt, the most expensive petrol manual is Rs 12.49 lakh (Ex-sh), which undercuts offerings like Nexon, Venue, Brezza and Sonet. Despite being a vehicle of a higher segment.
Basalt’s most affordable petrol automatic variant is priced at Rs 12.79 lakh, which appears to be the most expensive on this list. However, Citroen is only offering the Basalt automatic with a turbo engine and torque converter. While most rivals offer AMTs in lower variants. The most expensive Basalt variant is priced at Rs 13.83 lakh (Ex-sh) and it undercuts Nexon, Sonet, Brezza and XUV3XO.
Size quotient!
Before soaking in the price, we have to take into account the fact that Citroen Basalt is a larger vehicle belonging to compact SUV segment. Also, it is a stylish vehicle catering to the coupe SUV niche. While other offerings in this comparison all adhere to sub 4m length constraint. Maruti Suzuki had the opportunity to surpass 4m length with the Brezza, but didn’t.
Where dimensions are concerned, Citroen Basalt measures 4,352 mm in length, the longest among this comparison. Mahindra XUV3XO continues to be the widest. At 1,821 mm, XUV3XO is wider than many compact SUVs too. Despite being the longest, Basalt is not the tallest. That tag goes to Maruti Suzuki Brezza.
Owing to its length, Basalt has the longest wheelbase here, at 2,651 mm, slightly longer than XUV3XO’s 2,600 mm. At 470L, Basalt has the largest boot on offer. Interestingly, Kiger quotes a 405L boot, despite being similar in size to Magnite’s. Where ground clearance is concerned, Basalt is the lowest at 180 mm and Tata Nexon is the highest at 209 mm. With Basalt deliveries now started, and Citroen increasing dealer network, it will be interesting to see how this latest SUV Coupe performs in the Indian auto industry.
