1. Skoda Citigo

The Skoda Citigo was crowned Auto Express Car of the Year in 2012, and picked up Best City Car at our 2013 New Car Awards – it's one of the finest small cars money can buy. And it’s better value than its near-identical VW up! and SEAT Mii sister models.

Skoda offers S, SE and Elegance trims, with all featuring ESP, air-con and a host of airbags, plus autobrake as an option, but Elegance gets heated seats, sat-nav and Bluetooth as standard. The Citigo Sport is now available too, offering a range of styling tweaks plus lowered suspension for a little over £2,000 more than the £7,630 entry-level three-door version.

Buyers can pick from 59bhp and 72bhp versions of the superb 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine that powers all cars in the VW Group trio's city car range. For the lowest fuel consumption, go for the 59bhp GreenTech model, which promises 68.9mpg economy and road tax-free 96g/km of CO2 emissions.

There’s a choice of three and five-door bodystyles. The five-door is obviously easier to get into, but given the compact dimensions, all models provide a surprising amount of interior space. Boot size is generous, too – it can be expanded from 251 litres to 959 litres by folding the rear seats.