Third Report

It’s month three with the updated Citroën C3 and it has certainly made itself quite at home in my household. Its deep boot and good real world fuel economy has quickly been taken for granted, as it straddles the role of motorway commuter and urban shopping cart. However, something that hasn’t been lost on anyone is how easy it is to spot in a car park.

The B-segment hatchback remains the most popular form of car in the UK, that’s despite the continuing advance of SUVs. Their compact nature fits perfectly with our narrowing roads and busy school drop-off points. However, manufacturers all want their own slice of this lucrative pie, and so competition is rife. Today it is all about standing out from more humdrum rivals, something that the Citroën C3 does very well thanks to a huge volume of customisation options.

Sure, not everyone wants a vibrant car that can be spotted from space, and a monotone silver C3 can be yours. However, for those wanting to inject a bit of character into a new car, there are up to 97 different exterior combinations to be had. Playing with the online configurator, there’s seven body colours that also includes a rather unusual ‘Spring Blue Metallic’. You can have two-tone paint, alter the colour of the car’s unique Airbumps, and then different trim levels offer various styles of alloy wheels. Variety is indeed the spice of life.

Our Citroën C3 is finished in a really distinctive black and red combination, and while not the shades I’d personally pick, especially for standing out in photographs, I do really like Spring Blue, as featured below, as the sharp contrast is quite striking. Even in the busiest of car parks there’s no need to aimlessly blip the car’s key fob in a vain attempt to spot flashing lights. A quick scan of the roofs of the cars quickly identifies this unusual hatchback. That said, I did have an embarrassing incident when an identical C3 failed to unlock. After a few seconds – and choice words – I realised that it wasn’t ‘my car’, but another belonging to an extrovert owner. The Citroën C3 might not be a class leader in terms of handling, nor is it trying to be, but I can’t think of another car in this segment that offers so much choice when it comes to the look of your car, except perhaps the MINI Hatch.

Looking ahead to the next month, it will be interesting to see how the C3 copes with predominately town use. This diesel engine isn’t a natural or logical choice for such short trips, but Covid-19 has put all of us in less than typical situations, hasn’t it?

Date arrived 25th November 2020
Mileage 2,197
Economy (WLTP combined) 55.6-67.0mpg
Economy (On test) 53.2mpg