Author:

ROBIN ROBERTS

Skoda is confident it will increase its presence in the business and fleet markets after the new Citigo hits the road in June.

Keen pricing with good equipment, low insurance and the promise of encouraging residual values will combine to make the Slovakian company’s new baby car have grown up appeal.

Slightly smaller than the stablemate Fabia, the Citigo is launched as a three door with the five door version coming in autumn, and all models are fitted with either 60 or 75ps versions of the latest 3cylinder 1.0 litre engine married to either 5sp manual or automatic transmission.

With sub-100gkm emissions on the GreenTech derivatives to beat the conjestion charge in London, insurance groupings of 1E or 2E and forecast residual values of up to 51pc over 30,000 miles in 3yrs, the business case for Citigo is strong.

Skoda product marketing manager Chris Horrell believes Citigo will help raise the brand’s presence in the business market.

“Last year we sold about 45,000 Skodas in the UK and this year we are looking at 50,000 and by 2015 we believe this will rise to 80,000 units,” he said.

“We have not had a small three-door to sell in Britain for a number of years and with the changing economic climate, companies are looking for the most economical cars to run and with Citigo I believe it will put us on more shopping lists.

“I can see it appealing to fleets, small businesses and even the typical district nurse who wants economical transport with comfort and convenience features.” Citigo joins the Skoda range at £2,200 below the entry price of Fabia so it will appeal to existing drivers of the brand as well as those looking for well-equipped and economical transport.

Horrell said he believes Citigo registrations of the five-door next year will account for over 60% of sales an that demand will be equally split between the two power outputs. However, Horrell is less certain about which of the S, SE and Elegance trim levels will prove most popular.

“At this point in time I think it might just be the SE but the step up to Elegance and what you get is so small compared to the value of what’s included that it is almost a no-brainer to go for the Elegance, particularly with the stronger resale value this will attract.”

The city sector is dominated by petrol engines so there are no plans for a diesel at this time. Citigo has low pence per mile costs and is worth consideration by a company car managerwho looks after an SME fleet.