The city car is dead. Long live the city crossover. The Toyota Aygo X is a rare new entrant in the beleaguered city car class.
We are forever being told that the A-segment, to use the industry term, is a tough one. People shopping for the smallest cars expect a low price, but these ‘cheap’ cars still shouldn’t embarrass their makers in NCAP tests or scupper their emissions targets with their unhybridised powertrains.
No wonder, then, that Citroën and Peugeot have thrown in the towel by selling their stake in the factory in Kolín, Czech Republic, where they were building the Citroen C1 and Peugeot 108 alongside the Toyota Aygo.
Toyota still sees a future for the A-segment, though, and bought the Stellantis-owned brands’ stake in the plant to continue building the Aygo there on its own.
Toyota’s cheapest car has evolved into the Aygo X (pronounced ‘Cross’). That means it has got slightly bigger, slightly taller, slightly more grown- up, and rather a lot more expensive. After all, raising prices is the only way this type of car can be viable.
Or is it? Once you look closely at what’s available, you realise that Toyota won’t exactly have the market to itself. Sure, the Volkswagen Up and petrol Fiat 500 are ancient, and despite its reluctant breeding habits, the Fiat Panda hasn’t gone extinct, either.
