Superminis

Skoda Citigo 1.0 60 Greentech SE 5dr

Green Awards 2012: Superminis winner

The Skoda Citigo was always going to be in with a massive shout of winning this award – it’s mechanically identical to our reigning Car of the Year, the Volkswagen Up, and that’s a pretty good start.

However, that begs the question – why do we prefer Skoda’s version of the car as a green choice? Well, because one of the biggest reasons for choosing a green car is to save money, and the Citigo saves you a useful amount of cash straight off the bat.

At £8995, the Citigo Greentech SE costs £445 less than the equivalent VW and £185 less than the third member of this technology-sharing trio, the Seat Mii. Those sound like small amounts, but they’re still worth pocketing.

The Greentech’s additional energy-saving trickery also means it’ll cost even less to run than other version of the already-frugal Citigo. The 59bhp 1.0-litre engine is combined with stop-start technology, brake-energy recovery, low-resistance tyres and lowered suspension, which all combine to give an official CO2 figure of 96g/km.

For private buyers, that means it’s exempt from road tax, and the group 1 insurance rating also helps keep costs down. Company car drivers, meanwhile, will pay tax on just 10% of it’s value, because the Greentech sits in the lowest tax band possible for combustion-engined cars.

Low emissions equate to low fuel consumption, and the official figure is given at 68.9mpg. The Greentech performs pretty well in the real world, too, with our True MPG tests revealing a 53.3mpg average.

Most importantly, though, the Citigo is simply a brilliant little car. The superb ride and refinement mean it feels incredibly comfortable and sophisticated for a city car, and the roomy interior is also much classier than those in most rivals.

Read the full Skoda Citigo review