Skoda kept this one quiet! At the recent Frankfurt Motor Show the biggest news from the Czech manufacturer was the MissionL concept but the firm was obviously biding its time while parent company, Volkswagen, basked in the glow from its own new city car, the up!. The new baby Skoda, the Citigo, is actually based on the VW model so you can see why the two cars would not make their debut at the same event.
Despite being remarkably similar in looks the Skoda designers have worked hard to separate the Citigo from its VW cousin. The Skoda corporate face has shrunk down to size and features the finned grille and shapely headlights that are familiar to the rest of the Skoda range. The fancy glass boot of the up! has been replaced by a more conventional half metal affair while the side panels have been changed to give straighter lines and open up the rear windows even more.
The Citigo will enter the market in the Czech Republic by the end of the year with the Europe wide sales expected to start in June 2012. At launch a pair of three-cylinder 1.0-litre engines will be offered with power outputs of 60- and 75hp. These engines are set to be economical, returning up to 62.8mpg (4.5 litres/100km) while emitting 105g/km of CO2, though the optional stop-start system will see these figures improve to 67mpg (4.2 litres/100km) and 99g/km, though as the Irish tax system stands there'll be no benefit to that (other than the slightly improved economy), so we doubt Skoda will offer stop-start as an option here.
The Citigo is set to feature technologies such as City Safe Drive - that will apply the brakes if it senses an imminent collision - and a portable iPad style satnav unit that doubles as a Bluetooth device for phone calls and music streaming.
No word yet on prices for the Citigo but we expect it to be a little cheaper than the equivalent Volkswagen.