Skoda And The City

Skoda’s sixth production model is not a crossover - we get so many of those in the TotallyMotor inbox and it’s becoming a bit of a blur now - but instead the Czech automaker will be making an assault on the city car market with the cute and functional little Citigo.

It will be unleashed on the Czech market at the end of this year and UK and European buyers will be able to bag one from summer 2012. At this stage, we haven’t got any prices but we do have pics and Skoda has shared a few specs too.

The Citigo, with it’s distinctively Skoda finned gills and shapely headlights will be on offer as a three-door and five-door hatchback. It is super-compact at just 3.56m long, 1.65m wide and 1.48m high. If you can’t park that baby accurately, you should probably hand your licence back.

Skoda is claiming there’s bags of room and according to the specs, it probably won’t be much use if you’re moving a sofa, but there’s 251 litres of boot space and it extends to 951 litres if you fold down the back seats.

As well as being able to fold the seats down to make a mini van (or at least a micro van), other interior features include front headrests integrated into the seats, storage compartments aplenty, the all-important cupholders and a handbag hook. For the sentimental motorist, there is a photograph holder on the central console.

The three-door model features an “Easy Entry” system to make it simple for people to get into the backseat without too much wrenching of the front seats or embarrassing clambering.

Options include a portable navigation system which is fitted to the dashboard. This clever gizmo can be removed when the car is parked for added security and it also offers hands-free calling, infotainment and Bluetooth, all via a five-inch touchscreen.

Reassuringly for a baby car, the Citigo is packed with safety features such as side airbags and a nifty sensor system called “City Safe Drive” where the brakes are activated at 20mph when there is a risk of a collision, a handy feature in bumper-to-bumper city traffic.

There is a choice of two new three-cylinder, 1.0-litre petrol engines mated to a five-speed manual gearbox and fuel economy is at 67.3mpg for the 59bhp version and 65.7mpg for the 74bhp. CO2 emissions are at 97g/km and 99g/km respectively.





By Georgia Lewis

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