A new small Citroen C3 has arrived – the five-door French hatch comes in one high-spec Shine variant – the 1.6-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol six-speed automatic listed at $23,490 plus on-roads but available initially at $26,990 drive-away. Not cheap with the only omission autonomous emergency braking which denies it gaining a five-star crash safety rating. Fuel consumption is listed at 4.9L/100km on the combined city/country cycle aided by idle stop technology. The styling – typically French, different, somewhat funky with clever use of colours and finishes inside and out. Standard fare includes a rear view camera, rear parking sensors, cruise control with a speed limiter, climate control air, automatic lights and wipers and an excellent colour touch screen with Apple Car Play and Android Auto. Active features include speed limit recognition, lane departure warning, hill start assist and a sensible coffee break alert. The Citroen C3 also features static cornering lights to highlight the inside of bends. Local importer Peugeot/Citroen Australia announced this new C3 last October at 22,990 plus on-road costs but several compliance issues delayed it to this year with a subsequent $500 price increase. It’s dearer to many Japanese and Korean small hatches but is typically French, funky, clever, a great drive from an award winning drive-train, a small car with a big car ride and the most comfortable seats. Its biggest problem is an importer who can’t seem to recognize that it needs to be marketed in a different way. I’m David Berthon

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