What's this then?

This? This is Citroen finally getting serious about the SUV sales boom and taking on the likes of the Land Rover Discovery Sport and Honda CR-V with a new model inspired by the C4 Cactus. That intriguing little crossover has done well for Citroen (the company says its sales figures have been 'encouraging') and so the march into full-on SUV land is Citroen's next task. This Aircross concept is meant to show us roughly how a whole new family of SUVs will look. The concept is about the size of a Discovery Sport, but the basic shape and details could easily scale up or down to Qashqai or Santa Fe sizes.

There is a LOT of cool detailing on the outside, from the 'Air Curtain' air intakes at the front to the 'Air Signs' chrome finishing for the rear side windows, which both emphasise the importance of the rear seats to the car and also act as a proper aerodynamic aid.

There are also Alloy Bumps - a development of the Air Bumps, the little protective bubble-wrap-style lumps seen on the C4 Cactus. Whilst Air Bump technology is designed to protect the car's body from everyday bumps and scrapes, the 'Alloy Bumps' on the Citroen Aircross are there to protect the vehicle from lateral impact with their visible padding. The 'Alloy Bumps' are made using a highly absorbent aluminium honeycomb structure, which was first used in motorsport, and combines, says Citroen, protection, lightness and style.

The floating dashboard interior is a development of the C4 Cactus' cabin but taken to greater extremes of minimalism and high-techy-ness (that's a word, right?). All instrumentation is taken care of by two huge 12-inch HD display screens, while the mix of materials (from modern running-shoe-style mesh fabrics to corduroy and leather) is meant to give the cabin a retro-futuristic feel. Citroen has also tried to emphasise the lightness of the cabin and the view out for passengers. There are some clever tech tricks too - information can be passed from one screen to another using gesture control while there are webcams mounted on the outside of the car that Citroen says can be used to make a social media album of each journey. How much do you not want to sit next to someone who uses that function at dinner...?

More significantly, the Aircross also previews Citroen's plugin hybrid system, which will combine a turbocharged 1.6 THP petrol engine with a 95hp electric motor and battery stack for a mixture of 313hp, 31 miles on a full charge of the batteries and just 39g/km of CO₂. The (presumably pretty fictional) fuel economy figure for the Aircross is 166mpg while 0-62mph takes a claimed 4.5 seconds.

Nice other touches include an aversion (aside from the window surrounds) to chrome - Citroen is experimenting with some new and unusual finishes including Teflon coatings and brushed aluminium. Citroen also wants to create an SUV design language that's not aggressive or unfriendly, but one that uses curves to create a welcoming aspect.

When will we see one on sale?

Probably in not for a very long while actually, although a production version will probably tone down some of the more out-there elements. Citroen needs a mid-size SUV really to start pulling in the customers, so the Aircross will presumably get an express ticket to production.