02 Mar 05
The little C1, the supermini that's part of a PSA/Toyota joint venture, also manifests itself as the Peugeot 107 and the Toyota Aygo. What follows is a description that covers all three cars, because they are mechanically identical, have identical interiors apart from the trim fabric, and differ only in external detailing and some sheet metal. This same description can also be found in the Peugeot and Toyota sections of this Geneva report.
All three cars are built in a new factory in the Czech Republic, and will have a base price of around ¬8500. That said, the Toyota will be a little more expensive than the PSA cars when they all come to the UK, and the Aygo will go on sale first.
The engineering and factory set-up is mainly by Toyota, the purchasing and procurement by PSA - which is why, for example, you see the strange sight of a Toyota wearing the same Valeo door locks as used in every small French car for the last two decades. Engines are a 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol from Toyota or a 1.4-litre diesel four-cylinder from PSA; transmissions, whether manual or two-pedal sequential semi-auto with auto mode, are Toyota's.
The Aygo has conventional, if minimal, rear wing/quarter panels in its five-door version, but the two French-badged cars' rear doors stretch right up to the bumper and tail-lights, emphasising the stubby tail whose boot is pretty small, like a Kia Picanto's. Inside, there's plenty of painted metal which adds to the feeling of functionality, and plastics which are obviously not expensive but neither are they shoddy. There's plenty of open-plan storage and the dials are in Smart-like pods. The heater controls are rotary tabs either side of an illuminated lower console; their action is reminiscent of those of a Citroën Visa or GS. A removable GPS sat-nav system is optional.
These cars' styling could almost be those of design-student city concept cars, and they should sell well. Citroën may find it hard to distance the lower end of the C2 range from the C1, but Peugeot's 206 (and its eventual replacement), plus the next Toyota Yaris due later in the year, are usefully bigger.
One car, three names... so which to buy will depend partly on which look you like best and which dealer is nearest. To drive they should be identical, and already the European Car of the Year judges are inclined to assess the cars as one range.
