The Skoda Citigo is officially no more, as the Czech maker focuses its efforts on larger models and electrification.
The future of the city car, which is a sibling of the Volkswagen Up and Seat Mii, has long been in question, but Skoda sales and marketing boss Alain Favey has now confirmed it will not return.
He said: “Citigo is gone - as far as Europe is concerned we are sold out. There will not be a replacement of the Citigo and we have no intention to have a car of this size in the future.”
The combustion-engined Citigo went off sale in late 2019 in the UK, but the model continued with the electric Citigo-e iV. The zero-emissions model went on sale in early spring, and the UK’s 400-unit allocation quickly sold out. Customer deliveries will be complete by the end of this year, said a Skoda UK spokesman.
A new, small electric car, which could potentially succeed the Citigo, is not currently on the table, said Favey. “If one day there is a version of the Volkswagen Group’s [electric] MEB platform which allows smaller cars to be produced [than now], we would have a Skoda version, but I don’t know about such plans. But as far as the Citigo is concerned, the game is over.”
Skoda this week revealed its first stand-alone EV, the Enyaq, built on VW’s MEB platform. Favey said that this model, alongside the existing Superb plug-in hybrid and upcoming Octavia plug-in hybrid, would allow the brand to capitalise on the growing demand for electrified models.
However, smaller Skoda models will not receive electrified versions for the foreseeable future, as the costly technology would make such cars unattainable for customers, Favey said.
Talking about the possibility of plug-in hybrid options, he commented: “It’s disputable if it’s a good idea to have a Skoda Scala PHEV. It’s a technology which is still extremely expensive - you need to find a customer base which has the buying power to afford that technology, or we have to lose money which is not an option for us.”
Favey also said that there were no solid plans for Skoda’s next EV following the Enyaq, and that Skoda was closely watching EV demand. He added that the flexibility of VW’s MEB platform meant that development times of future EVs could be much quicker than traditional combustion-engined cars.
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And yet another stupid
And yet another stupid decision from the German Heilrachy, the Citigo, Up and Mii, between them all made a profit, even if it is only £50 per car thats still profit, and they made more than that, Skoda were once a great company, now they just have cast off's from the VW group, they do nothing themselves anymore, its VW Chassis, Floor Pans, Engines, Design, Electrics, and so on and so on, same with SEAT, at least Porsche and Audi are, as yet not towing the full line, but give it time...
Jonboy, your stupidity knows
jonboy4969 wrote:
And its not just about profit. Small cars have always been difficult to make money on, but manufacturers knew their value in attracting new and younger buyers to the brand, people that would stay with you as their needs changed and they wanted larger (more profitable) vehicles. In fact, I think the Skoda boss said that in the article I recall. But manufacturers don't have long term thinking any more, as ultimately, they know they're living on borrowed time so just want to make money for themselves and their shareholders right now.
VAG owners nerfing skoda
yes 10000%. This is what i hate about "group" brands like skoda. Remember how great value the early 00's skodas was compared to vw or audi? turbo octavia vrs for less than £17k new , superb was £21k fully kitted out. Because of their early vag mega success skoda will never be allowed to be 'too' popular because they take too many sales away from vw , seat and audi so the VAG management back in Wolfsberg gimp the replacements and increase the price of the skodas by 30% to not be too competitive . All modern skodas now are just cast off vws with slightly cheaper plastic trim, boring vag family photocopier designs and artificially limited performance drivetrains to not compete with vw.. This is why skoda is a dead end joke brand, vag managers will ALWAYS demand the cars are made inferior falling in line in the vag hierarchy tree not to cannibalize sales and keep the fat cat shareholders happy..
Let's save the planet and
Let's save the planet and show our green credentials by making everyone drive bulky SUVs...
obvious
They tried to make a small car, which can't be sold for much money, by using the same platform as the larger cars, which can't be built cheaply. This was done, don't forget, after they fell out with Suzuki. All things considered, a load of people who are supposedly clever did everything stupid. Again.