Skoda UK is optimistic that, although it has set a target of selling 8,000 Citigos a year, it will break through the 10,000 barrier with its version of the Volkswagen Up.
That target is part of Skoda’s plan to increase UK sales to 80,000 a year by 2015 from 45,000 last year, said product marketing manager Chris Horrell. Skoda globally plans to lift sales to 1.5m units by then.
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“If Hyundai is selling 20,000 i10s, selling 8,000 Citigos should be a walk in the park,” said Horrell.
The Citigo, launched as a three-door, marks the debut of a new black-and-chrome winged Skoda logo. The new logo is part of a brand makeover that will also be seen in showrooms over the next few years. Think of a white and green Skoda motorshow stand and you will have the ingredients for the new look, worked around the VW Group’s ‘box’ design for showrooms, said Horrell, who described the changes as a “shift in identity” rather than a complete makeover.
The Citigo also gets a new grille although the cut-out beneath the badge will be more pronounced on subsequent models. First of these is the new Rapid at the end of this year; this is the car that was shown at motor shows as the MissionL concept. A new Octavia is launched next year and in 2014 a new Fabia and Roomster arrive.
Citigo also marks the arrival of ‘GreenTech’ models with start-stop which Skoda claimed lowers fuel consumption by 9%. GreenTech models also get brake energy recovery and low rolling resistance tyres.
These combine to give the 60 PS version of the 1.0-litre Citigo CO2 emissions of 96g/km and the 75 PS version, 98g/km. For non-GreenTech models those figures are 103 and 105g/km.
