Citroen Basalt Vision Previews New Coupe SUV by Stellantis

The all-new Citroen Basalt Vision concept previews new coupe SUVs by Stellantis catered to emerging markets.

Citroen has revealed its latest concept model, known as the Citroen Basalt Vision. This new concept SUV coupe will serve as a preview for the upcoming SUV crossover from the French automaker, which is catered to emerging global markets like India and South America.

Positioned as a sporty compact coupe SUV, the Basalt Vision gets a very familiar design, inspired by the new Citroen C3 Aircross crossover. Up front, the coupe SUV gets fancy LED headlights with a dual-stack design, although lower-spec variants would settle for halogen units instead. 

The Citroen Basalt Vision boasts a typical sporty coupe SUV silhouette.

From the side, the Basalt Vision gets a pretty muscular stance, thanks to its sculpted front and rear fenders. While its thick C-pillars appear to house the rear door handles like many other coupe SUVs out there, the Basalt Vision actually sports conventional handles for all four doors.

Typical of many coupe SUVs, the Basalt has a rakish rear windscreen that ends with a small ducktail spoiler. The tailgate is further furnished with its C-shaped LED tail lights, plus a prominent rear bumper accent to match with its dark-hued underbody cladding.

While Citroen has yet to reveal the innards of the Basalt Vision, the French automaker claims that this coupe SUV will boast a decent amount of space, as the whole cabin prioritises space and comfort over anything else.

The production version of the Basalt Vision concept will use Stellantis' Smart Car Platform.

Similar to the C3 Aircross, the new Citroen Basalt Vision also underpins Stellantis’ Smart Car Platform, which is essentially an evolved version of the firm’s CMP/eCMP architecture. Unlike the Euro-based models, the Basalt Vision’s chassis has been configured specifically to meet the needs of both the Indian and South American markets, so we can expect some mechanical differences, notably in its damper setup.

While neither Citroen nor Stellantis have delved deeper into the powertrain options, we can expect upcoming models based on the Basalt Vision to use a 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol mill rated at 108 HP—the same engine used on the Euro-spec C3. Aside from the full ICE version, the Basalt Vision will reportedly also feature an all-electric variant, potentially borrowing the EV powertrain setup from the e-C3.

Aside from both India and South America, could the Citroen Basalt Vision debut in ASEAN markets too?

The all-new Citroen Basalt Vision concept is poised to be turned into a full-blown production model some time later in the second half of 2024. Citroen confirms that the coupe SUV’s production twin will also use the Basalt name, marking the first deviation from Citroen’s naming strategy, which usually uses the letter ‘C’.

As of now, the Citroen Basalt production model will be offered exclusively in emerging markets like India and South America. With Stellantis now ramping up its expansion plan in the ASEAN region, there might be a slight chance that we could see this sporty coupe SUV making its way into our local market, alongside other STLA medium-based models under the firm’s portfolio.