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Skoda CitiGo unveiled

Sister car to VW up! gets Skoda styling cues and seats four, could be priced as low as £7,000

Skoda CITI GO

By Sam Hardy

27th September 2011

Is this the best-value Skoda ever? The brand has released official pictures of its new entry-level model – a Fiat 500-rivalling small car, which is likely to cost as little as £7,000 when sales start in 
June next year.  

Called the CitiGo, it is Skoda’s version of the brilliant new VW up! (driven in Issue 1,182), and gets the same all-new front-wheel-drive platform, which offers lots of space for four occupants. It’s also very efficient, thanks to a 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine.

The CitiGo takes the clean, stylish looks of the up! and 
adds Skoda’s family face to 
the front end. In comes the 
latest interpretation of the 
familiar grille, which is flanked 
by large headlights, along 
with simpler bumpers. 

At the rear, the CitiGo swaps the up!’s all-glass tailgate for a half-metal affair, and replaces its tail-lights with less flamboyant clusters that ape the look of the Octavia. But while it’s not as 
dramatic, the bigger rear windows make it a more family friendly proposition, and it’s still a handsome and very well proportioned small car.

And it’ll be a roomy one, too. At 3.5m long, 1.6m wide and 1.5m tall, the CitiGo is similar in size 
to the Fiat 500. But thanks to a clever platform – which moves the engine as far forward as 
possible – the wheelbase is 
2.4m long, meaning it rivals 
the VW Polo for interior space.

Flexibility in the four-seater 
is boosted by fold-flat rear seats, extending boot space from 251 litres to 951 litres. In comparison, the 500 offers 185 and 550 litres. Inside, the front seats feature integrated headrests, while there are novel touches such as a photo holder mounted on the centre console, and a convenient bag hook on the outside of the glovebox. 

Safety kit includes side airbags and City Safety Drive – a clever system which automatically brakes the car at low speeds if it senses an imminent crash. A portable iPad-style device, which incorporates sat-nav and phone functions, plus Bluetooth music streaming, is also available.

Power comes from an all-new 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine with 59bhp or 74bhp. Thanks to the inclusion of stop-start, the CitiGo will return 67mpg and emit 97g/km of CO2 in 'Green Tec' trim, making it exempt from road tax. Five-speed manual and a sequential auto 
gearbox are both available.

Sales will start in June 2012 in three-door form, 
with a five-door arriving 
two to three months after. Following VW’s debut of the up! GT at the Frankfurt Motor Show, 
it’s possible Skoda will launch a hot vRS variant 
of the CitiGo, too, but Skoda bosses have said that a Fabia Monte Carlo style cosmetic upgrade is much more likely.

While there’s no official 
word on price, Skoda has confirmed that it will charge a lot less than VW does for the up!, which starts at around £8,000. Insiders have hinted that the CitiGo range could kick off at £7,000, undercutting the up! by at least £1,000, and the Toyota Aygo and Ford Ka by as much as £1,500.

However Skoda believe that the main competition in this segment will be from the new Fiat Panda, which made its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show earlier this month.

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14 Comments

Skoda's CITI GO : Well that's my new car sorted!

Although the price of £7000 is probably slightly optimistic, at around £8000, it still represents excellent value for money. I've been toying with buying a new car to replace my C1, but I'll just have to content myself until 2012 when this new Skoda goes on sale. Hopefully it looks like this when it goes on sale, because it's easier on the eye than VW's UP, IMO.

By n50pap on 28 September, 2011, 11:08am

Sko... Go!

Looks a better bet than the VW equivalent in having slighly more mature a look...

VW will have to find itself a reason for buyers not to GO towards Skoda, and then if SEAT launch a version, then VW really will have to find a reason to make buyers want a VW over the other two...

VW should have made the regular GO and Eco Go VW's, the plusher/comfort version the Skoda badged and the SEAT badged one as the GTi type... 3 badges and 1 car!

By LegioIXHispana on 28 September, 2011, 4:52pm

Grown up city car at last!

Thankfully Skoda have avoided the toy town big eyed look of other city cars. Makes it much more grown up and a proper car. I like it, id be surprised if it is £7k but it should be, almost all cars these days seem to start at £8k in the city/supermini class which I find very odd. Since the Fabia was ruined with the MK2 tall-awkward-jelly look, this is the first small Skoda I'd consider buying in years after owning 2 Fabia MK1 models.

By JamesRiley on 28 September, 2011, 7:17pm

fell asleep typing.........

moves car design forward not one iota...... at least the VW version tries to look a little different....and i dont often get the chance to say that.

By wmtmarine on 29 September, 2011, 7:42am

new skoda baby

this is a delightful looking car and shows how skoda is developing into a serious contender to the big boys...I LOVED MY FABIA VRS IT WAS A CRACKING SPORTY CAR AND CHEAP TO BUY AND RUN...hope they fit air con and it is comfortable thn i will love one to drive into london

By bluequake on 29 September, 2011, 8:31am

Dull

Agree totally with wmtmarine: this is dull compared to the up! If it wasn't a VW Group product I'd guess it was an old Asian design. Even the colour looks dated. At least the price is more sensible though.

By Anorak17 on 29 September, 2011, 10:22am

PS And the name is a bit naff too! Citi spelt like that? Why not just Go? Competing with Aygo...

By Anorak17 on 29 September, 2011, 10:29am

Smart

I want this jsut for driving to work and back!"

By hubabuba on 29 September, 2011, 11:02am

Sober, but specced?

It just shows you that the styling of the VW Up! is all important. I wouldn't go as far as saying it was an "old asian design" - this styling shows the rather more mature, if sober image that Skoda are putting about - although they are more generous with specification and it's the inside of the car that you experience more as the driver. The Up! is a more unique model in the VW range, whereas the CitiGo keeps the look of Skoda. The Seat Arosa version looks even more like a page out of their own family photo album. Nevertheless, this demonstrates the cost of added features like the glass tailgate on the Up! I suppose this works like the C1-107-Aygo step-family did.

By alan_jenney on 29 September, 2011, 11:54am

Performance version?

Tricky to position a performance version. If Seat is supposed to be a sportier brand, then the Up! GT or a CitiGO vRS is going to be a more enticing option.

Interesting that Audi have chosen a different route with the A2 looking like it will be their city car, a somewhat bigger affair than the premium supermini that is the A1. I wonder if Bentley wanted to do an equivalent to the Aston Martin Cygnet (which they don't really need to) which they would choose? I suspect it would be the Audi route. Time for an artist's impression?

By alan_jenney on 29 September, 2011, 12:00pm

Better Skoda than VW!

I appreciate that Skoda has come on leaps and bounds over the last decade (I am about to swap my 4th BMW for a Superb Estate in the not too distant future), but in my opinion, this car still makes more sense as a Skoda than a VW. The fact that it will doubtless undercut its German sibling really should decimate sales of the Dub. It won't, of course, because badge snobbery still persists among the ill-educated and unenlightened. I think this cheap and cheerful yet grown up and well specced car should be a runaway sales success for those looking to graduate from a C107go!

By BARNEYM1979 on 29 September, 2011, 4:42pm

Yes better than VW

I'd sooner have one than the VW if only because it doesn't have such a stupid name.

By Ian2861 on 29 September, 2011, 8:37pm

Thumbs down for up?

On balance I prefer the look of this to the up? The strong front grille and rear lights that integrate with a metal panelled tailgate give it a chunky and strong appearance. The pics of the GTi up? show how much the VW version relies on the mouth shaped front grille and how it loses any 'personality' when this is removed.
The pic of the Seat version in the mag are nothing like the actual version which is shown in other magazines this week, and which looks very much the poor relation.

By knox615 on 4 October, 2011, 11:18am

Name it Felicia?

Maybe the Skoda "CITIGO" could be called the "Felicia" as by today's size standards the original "Felicia" would be a city car if it was new now. Also why don't they just name the Seat "Mii" as "Arosa"? 1. People know and grew to love that name, 2. "Mii" just translates into English as "My!" not exactly original or of any relation to Spain. VW should just drop the drab "Fox" as well, and name the "Up!" as "Lupo", again people grew to love that name as well.

By danielcrawford on 5 October, 2011, 2:25am

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