ŠKODA Citigo in Geneva debut as five-door version
03/05/2012
Skoda
ŠKODA introduced its Citigo subcompact as a five-door version to a wider public for the first time as part of Volkswagen Group night at the Geneva Automobile Salon. From May 2012 ŠKODA's most recent model will become available in European markets as a three- and as a five-door version. The Citigo is ŠKODA's entry into the strongly growing subcompact segment, giving it an essential role in the company's growth strategy.
"Škoda's model offensive is continuing in 2012," said Škoda CEO Winfried Vahland at the Citigo's presentation on the eve of the Geneva auto salon. "The Citigo will provide sustained strength to our favourable position in Europe and win new customer groups for our brand. Our new subcompact is a real 'simply clever' car: ingenious, roomy, agile and leading in technology. This makes is a young and 'fresh' offering of ours in a strongly growing segment," Vahland continued. At home in the Czech Republic, the three-door version was successfully introduced into the market in late 2011 - promptly being named best subcompact as part of the '2012 Car of the Year' contest.
Powered by the Citigo and other new models, Škoda intends to achieve significant additional growth in international markets in the years to come. Its aim is to increase global sales to at least 1.5 million by 2018. "We are on a stable growth path and have clearly raised our deliveries yet again in the first two months of 2012," Vahland confirms. In the January-February 2012 period, worldwide sales of the brand rose 11,6 percent to 147.505 units year on year, a "perfect start to the year" according to Vahland and a seamless continuation of Škoda's successful year 2011, in which the brand scored another delivery record in its currently 117-year corporate history at 879,200 units.
The Citigo is among the most compact yet roomiest representatives of the subcompact class. Especially noteworthy is its precise, authentic and attractive design, which endows it with a distinctive character. It is the first Škoda model to bear the brand's new logo and impresses with its clear proportions, lines and surfaces. Among its ingenious features in keeping with the brand's 'Simply Clever' slogan are the photo and document holder, the glove compartment's integrated bag hook or the range of nets to hold loose objects.
The Citigo is big on safety. Its exemplary safety concept won it the maximum score of five stars in the Euro NCAP crash test, together with the VW up! and the SEAT Mii.
New three-cylinder petrol engines with a displacement of one litre and two power variants (44 kW/60 PS and 55 kW/75 PS) make the new car nimble and efficient. Its most fuel-thrifty Green tec variant consumes a mere 4,1 l/100 km. The Green tec version's CO2-emissions are only 96 g/km.