The world of budget family sedans is quite an interesting and active one within the busy automotive landscape. From large major carmakers to several of the smaller ones, almost all of them have made the effort to produce at least one budget category sedan. The segment is so popular amongst car companies, that players from America, Europe, Japan, and South Korea (among others) all have one profitable sedan that appeals to buyers who want the all the basics covered with the least amount of outlay. European automaker Citroen is one of the few marque’s from that part of the world which has been making the C-Elysee since its introduction in China in the early 2000s.
However, it wasn’t until 2013 that Citroen finally realized the potential of the C-Elysee in other markets as well. This when it came out with the second-generation iteration of the C-Elysee, which is built at Peugeot’s manufacturing facility in Spain alongside the similar Peugeot 301 sedan. The Citroen C-Elysee is basically a budget C-segment sedan and as such, it competes with some heavyweights from the likes of the Hyundai Accent, Nissan Sunny, and Toyota Yaris sedan.
Exterior
The Citroen C-Elysee’s exterior follows a typical three-box sedan design, and there really aren’t any fancy lines, contours or peculiar styling cues that help the C-Elysee stand out. In fact, even though it’s a touch larger than some of its closest rivals, the bland design of the C-Elysee means that it’s definitely not the most observed car out on the street or in a parking lot. However, all that said, the Citroen C-Elysee isn’t necessarily an ugly duckling -- it just doesn’t look particularly beautiful or intriguing in anyway shape or form, is all. The front end features a double-slatted chrome grille, slightly sweptback headlamps, subtly creased hood, and a smooth bumper that gets an integrated air dam and protruding fog lamp housings.
Viewed from the sides, the C-Elysee looks fairly decent, with its sharp character line that runs between the headlamps right up to the rear light cluster. Then there are the gently flared fenders, multi-spoke 15-inch alloy wheels, rising shoulder line and a thin chrome strip along the window line. At the back, the C-Elysee has wrap-around tail lamps, subtly contoured trunk lid and a simple yet sculpted rear bumper. The Citroen C-Elysee measures 4.427 meters in length, 1.748 meters in width and 1.466 meters in height. It has a wheelbase of 2.652 meters and a total boot capacity of over 500 liters -- making this great for those occasional airport runs.
Interior
Just as in the case of its exterior styling, the interior of the Citroen C-Elysee has clearly not been designed to blow your socks off. There are barely any interesting angles, contours or curves in this cabin, as the upright layout of the dashboard and center stack goes to show. If you want excitement and interesting aesthetics on the interior, look elsewhere.
Thankfully, there’s loads of space for five adults in this cabin, which would likely be one of the biggest factors if you’re choosing this sedan. On the features front, the C-Elysee gets halogen headlights, front fog lamps, rear parking sensors, leather-wrapped steering wheel, power windows, power-operated door mirrors, manual air-conditioning, four-speaker audio system with radio, CD and MP3 playback, dual front airbags and anti-lock brakes.
Engine and performance
The Citroen C-Elysee is powered by a 1.6-liter naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine that develops a modest 115hp and 150Nm of torque. This unit is paired to an old-school 4-speed automatic gearbox that then drives the front wheels. The C-Elysee can hit the ton-mark in a shade over 10 seconds and if you’re patient enough, a top speed of 190 km/h.
Verdict
In the UAE, the Citroen C-Elysee range costs between AED 55,125 for the base variant to AED 62,475 for the Exclusive trim option.
