New Skoda City Car – Skoda Takes on the City Car Market with Skoda Citigo

Created Date: 11/10/2011

Recently we have seen an influx of petite, urban city cars wash into the automotive market, with many a prospective company jumping on the opportunity to be part of the action. We have the newly refined VW Up, Toyota’s Aygo and iQ, and even more recently Seat's Mii (forgive me if I missed any others) all battling for micro urban supremacy. So its comes as no surprise then that yet another manufacturer has decided to try and steal the crown but I bet you didn''t think it would be a Skoda did you? Well it is, and it''s actually quite good. 

Although it shares most of its engineering innards with the new VW Up, the Citigo manages to give itself a sense of individuality in its exterior design that I have quite adhered to versus the competition. I''m not a fan of micro city cars; I think they''re a gimmick that would wear off very quickly if you ever owned one. Part of this is because they don''t actually look and feel like a car, but the Citigo is actually surprisingly captivating. Instead of looking like a washing machine (iQ), or a pseudo futuristic piece of plastic (the new VW Up), this manages to actually look like a proper car. The shape of it works really well without it looking squished or sawn in half, and the front end isn''t flat or square which seems to give all these city cars that distinct boxy shape. This could quite easily blend in with the melancholy of normal suburban city life. Inside the theme continues, as things again take on more of a reserved affair. Rather than trying to make it look like it''s traveled from the future, it remains simple and functional. Interior kit as standard includes a fully portable and detachable sat nav, which comes in the form of a five-inch touch screen, bluetooth and numerous storage compartments. 

The Citigo also features Skoda’s new brake assistance system for collision avoidance, a system which automatically applies the brakes when traveling too fast with another object that is close in its vicinity. Engine performance is, unsurprisingly, pretty much also identical to the Up, with two engines currently slated for its release. Both are 1.0l petrol motors, with one outputting 59bhp and the other managing 74bhp. Top speeds are 99mph for the former and a triple figure 106mph for the latter, which is actually pretty fast for a city car. However it’s the fuel efficiency and emission figures that these things can really smile about, as they are practically the single most eco-friendly thing on the road. The Citigo only just breaks 100g/km in both instances, with the first petrol engine giving out 105g/km and the second 108g/km CO2. It’s possible to lower those figures even further through an optional engine start-stop system, which will bring the Citigo’s CO2 output below 100g/km and exempt it from that pesky Congestion Charge. Add to that its massive mpg ratings of 67.3mpg and 65.7mpg, and as far as fuel efficiency and green ratings go you really can''t beat the micro cars.

Skoda will begin Production of the Citigo at its Bratislava plant in October. The car will go on sale in the Czech Republic before the end of this year, and in the UK and Europe we should see it by sometime next summer. Rumored price for the Citigo currently stands at upwards of the £7000 mark, which means it would be cutting its nearest competitor, the VW Up, by near enough a £1000. This could turn out to be a dark horse in the urban micro car race. 

Sources

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/News/Search-Results/First-Official-Pictures/Volkswagen-Up-2012-first-photos-of-VWs-mini/

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/skoda-unveils-its-up-the-citigo/259331

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/News/Search-Results/First-Official-Pictures/Skoda-Citigo-2012-first-official-pictures/

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/259330/  

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