2017 Skoda Citigo facelift gets an umbrella…

A sister model of the Volkswagen up! and SEAT Mii, Skoda’s pint-sized Citigo has received a nip and tuck to stay competitive in the challenging A-segment. Former Skoda chief designer Jozef Kabaň, now at BMW, has given the city car a mildly updated front grille and a redesigned hood. In addition, the fog lights and both bumpers have gone through a mild cosmetic surgery to keep the car fresh on the outside. The body changes have actually made the car a tad longer, with overall length increasing by 34 mm to 3,597 mm.

At an additional cost, you can have the tweaked headlights with LED daytime running lights, while the new fog lights are optionally offered with a cornering function. Rounding off the changes on the outside are the new 15-inch alloy wheels design, a Kiwi Green hue, and a couple of two-tone color packages. Pretty exciting, isn’t it?

On the inside, there’s an umbrella residing underneath the front passenger’s seat, just like in the case of the recently facelifted Octavia. Skoda has also updated the instrument cluster and you can have the Citigo with optional light and rain sensors, leather-wrapped steering wheel, and automatic climate control.

Skoda is also updating the Blues and Swing radio systems, with both of them featuring USB connectivity, SD card slot, and aux-in socket. Go for the more expensive Swing setup and your Citigo will have six speakers, a color display, and support for Bluetooth connectivity.

Underneath the hood, the 2017 Citigo can get a naturally aspirated three-cylinder 1.0-liter with 60 horsepower (44 kilowatts) and 95 Newton-meters of torque. Should you consider the 14.4-second sprint to 100 kph and the 162-kph top speed too slow, the same 1.0 MPI engine is also offered in a slightly stronger flavor with 75 hp (55 kW) and the same 95 Nm. In this case, the sprint time drops to 13.5 seconds, while the top speed increases to 173 kph.

If you’re after efficiency, the 1.0 G-TEC CNG is the one to get. As the name implies, it runs on compressed natural gas and in this state of tune the 1.0-liter unit is rated at 68 hp (50 kW). As expected, it’s the slowest of the bunch, with the sprint taking an agonizing 16.3 seconds. What really matters is the fuel consumption of 4.5 m3 of CNG for every 100 km, with corresponding CO2 emissions of only 82 g/km.

Skoda will have the facelifted Citigo next month in Geneva where the cute little car will share the spotlight with the Octavia RS 245, and the Kodiaq Sportline & Scout duo.