Skoda's new small car for the city, the Citigo

Small passenger car sales are hotting up world over and Skoda has decided to jump right into all the action with their all new Citigo. The new small car is a crucial model for Skoda as they are entering a new sector and must get everything right to secure its position in the small car market.  

SKODA Board Chairman Prof. Dr. h.c. Winfried Vahland, said, “The Citigo is one of the pillars of our growth strategy. The car offers all of Skoda’s values in a compact package and fits perfectly with our aims. The Citigo is literally a ‘Simply Clever’ car. Despite its small size, it offers ample interior space; it is agile while frugal. 

Skoda’s small car is aimed at being a practical and spacious city car. With a generous wheelbase of 2.42 meters can seat four passengers in comfort and a boot space of 251 litres it seems to stack up to be quite a spacious car for its size. The rear seats can be folded to have 951 litres of boot space which is a pretty sizeable number. The car is 3.56 meters long, 1.65 meters wide and 1.48 meters tall. The Skoda Citigo will come with an option of two 3 cylinder 1.0 litre petrol engines with 60 PS and 75 PS of power output. The engines and gearboxes for the Citigo have been optimised for fuel efficiency.

The Skoda Citigo is based on the Volkswagen Up and apart from restyled cosmetic changes the Citigo is essentially a VW Up, it has the same engine options as the Up and the dimensions of the car are the same. The main differences between the Up and the Citigo are differently shaped headlamps, restyled tail lamps, reshaped bumpers and different alloy wheels. The Up to Citigo is not the first product sharing moment for these two brands. The Volkswagen Polo and Skoda Fabia have the same underpinnings and powertrains as do the VW Jetta and the Skoda Laura, Skoda’s new sedan which will rival the Volkswagen Vento will also be based on it, atleast here in India. Volkswagen is the parent company of Skoda and their cars share the same platforms and mechanical hardware to reduce the overall cost of production of their cars. 

The interior of the car boasts several storage compartments, cup holders and multimedia systems. The car will be available in three door and five door variants. In the three door variant the front seats can be moved forward and folded for easy ingress and egress from the back seats. The car also comes with a portable navigation system (a first on the Skoda) with a 5-inch touch screen, which can be taken off on the go so that passengers can use it when the driver is driving. The system will also come with Bluetooth phone connectivity and an infotainment system. 

Apart from focusing on making the Citigo an economical car Skoda has also emphasised on safety of their small car. Skoda has integrated Head-Thorax side airbags to protect the heads of the front passengers in the event of a crash. The Citigo also comes with Bosch’s new Long-range Radar Sensor to help prevent collisions below 30 km/h. The next step in small passenger car development is safety and Skoda have already taken steps in that direction with the Citigo. Consideraing the segment of the vehicle the Czech brand would do well to bring the Citigo to India in its five door flavour.