Filed under: Consumer
Thanks to a new triumvirate of city cars from the VW Group, the old guard has been forced to buck its ideas up...well, two of them have.
Six years prior to the launch of the identical VW Up, SEAT Mii and Skoda Citigo, Peugeot, Citroen and Toyota combined to do the same thing: the 107, C1 and Aygo were born.
They're six years old now, and despite mild updates in 2008 they're well overdue facelifts. But with Toyota occupied launching sports cars and hybrids, only the French portion of the trio have done something about it.
Or maybe Toyota is busy hawking the Aygo to Ferrari to dress up as a new model?
The Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107 both get obvious styling upgrades, making them more distinct from each other and bringing them closer to the other cars from their respective brands.
More important than that, though, is the news that each now slips below the 100g/km mark. The 99g/km C1 and 107 both boast 65.7mpg and so will cost nothing to get a tax disc for.
And on that basis, the old French dogs trump the VW cars, because none can beat 100g/km. Not yet, anyway.
The low emissions come from a three-cylinder 1.0-litre petrol engine with 68bhp and 70lb.ft, linked to a five-speed manual gearbox and capable of pushing the car to 100mph on a gentle downward slope.
The 107 range starts at £7,995 for a three-door in basic Access trim, resplendent with plastic wheel trims, while Active versions get alloys and air con and top level Allure add Bluetooth and a USB iPod connection.
The 107 goes on sale in February, but we have to wait until April for the C1. Citroen hasn't said how much its version will cost, but expect it to be the same.
(NB. About five minutes after we published this, Toyota sent out a press release to announce that the Aygo too will get a facelift and the same 99g/km engine. We could add a that to the headline and publish a picture, but we're not going to. That's what you get for being tardy, Toyota!)