YOU have to hand it to Citroen - 100 years in the business and the brand is still managing to invigorate and surprise us.

Take its latest SUV the C5 Aircross - unlike many of its counterparts it looks big and friendly even before you get in and sink into its incredibly comfortable seats.

It's a welcoming car, its broad nose highlighted by the double chevron on the bonnet and the wide smiley grille. This model, Flair, had the red colour pack onboard with red outlining the vents under the grille, stylishly highlighting the broad roof bars and Citroen's signature Airbumps under the doors.

The C5 Aircross comes with seven body colours, the option of a black roof and two other colour packs - silver or white - giving you 30 different colourways to personalise your vehicle.

Big and friendly it is built for families with piles of space inside, three full-sized rear seats which can be lowered together or individually for a massive load space and can also slide backwards and forwards. The central arm between the front seats has a great bit of space under it that will take a 1.5-litre water bottle, the glovebox opens from above and is illuminated and there are cup holders and map pockets.

But the C5 Aircross is not just all about comfort, space and storage. It comes with enough tech to satisfy the fussiest digi-fan.

There are two USB charging ports as well as a wireless charger and two 12V sockets - one in the glovebox and the other in the boot. There's DAB, Bluetooth, MirrorLink, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with voice recognition covering radio, nav and telephone. And of course because this is a Citroen there is Citroen Connect and Connect box as well as the Connected CAM which you can use to send pictures of your travels to friends on social media, or better still use as a dash cam.

And you will want to travel a lot in this car. Due to its suspension with Progressive Hydraulic, it is exceedingly comfortable, like floating along on a giant cushion. Remember this is the car that can claim the iconic DS in its heritage. But amazingly this car is also well equipped for much of what Mother Nature can throw at you.

Its Grip Control settings allow you to adjust the driving system for snow, mud, rocks - different kinds of terrain - for greater security. And Hill Descent Assist will help you down a slope forwards or in reverse.

It comes with loads of safety systems too like adaptive cruise control, a reversing camera, an alert to tell you when to take a break, a collision risk warning, an active safety break, intelligent beam headlights and many more.