The new Aygo is one of several city cars that arrived on the market in 2014. Like its predecessor, it's the result of a collaboration between Toyota and French manufacturers Citroen and Peugeot. The Aygo, the C1 and the 108 are essentially the same car, though there are detail differences.

Unusually, considering its reputation for building quite conservative cars, Toyota has gone for the youth market in a big way.

The front-end styling, liberal use of the letter "x" in the trim level names and, particularly, a very distinctive marketing and advertising campaign make it clear the kind of customer Toyota is trying to attract.

Unlike its French cousins, the Aygo is offered only with a 1.0-litre engine (mated to either a conventional manual gearbox or an electronically controlled manual called x-shift). There is no 1.2-litre option. Three- and five-door body styles are available.

Performance

With 67bhp from its little three-cylinder engine the Aygo is no quicker than it needs to be. The top speed in all cases is 99mph, and manual versions can accelerate from 0-62mph in 14.2 seconds. x-shift models take 15.5 seconds, a deficit which is unlikely to deter anyone who wants a two-pedal car.

Gear changes with the x-shift are ponderous, but that's how things always are with transmissions of this type. The Toyota unit is no worse than any other, and better than some.

Ride and Handling

The Aygo rides and handles pretty well on country roads, where it soaks up bumps quite effectively and doesn't mind being pushed on through corners

Considering how short it is, the Aygo rides and handles pretty well on country roads, where it soaks up bumps quite effectively and doesn't mind being pushed on through corners. It's also easy to manoeuvre in urban situations, as all city cars should be. The driving experience is hurt badly by the noise levels, which are unacceptable for such a recently designed model, no matter how small it is. And manoeuvring is much more difficult than it should be thanks to the ridiculous lack of glass area at the rear.

Interior and Equipment

The name is pronounced 'I go', which is also what it means.

The interior is neatly styled, and the graphics on the central touchscreen, which operates in conjunction with your smartphone, are clear and easy to follow. Front-seat occupant have so much room they might briefly be persuaded to believe that they were sitting in a much larger car. There's far less room in the back, though, and luggage space of just 168 litres with the rear seats in place is poor for the class - some rivals provide more than 250 litres. The "tailgate" is simply a hinged window and is usefully light, but it also feels flimsy, if admittedly not to quite to the extent of the smaller window in the previous Aygo. The interior materials feel flimsy, and in fact so does the bodyshell, which can be made to ring in sympathy to something as apparently innocent as operating the central locking. In fairness, it should be pointed out that this doesn't appear to affect safety, since the Aygo achieved a four-star rating in a 2014 Euro NCAP crash test, and no other city car has done better than that.

Cost

Manual cars have CO2 emissions of 95g/km while x-shift versions are rated at 97g/km. Vehicle Excise Duty is therefore £0 on all of them.

The cheapest Aygo costs under £9,000, though you can spend more than £12,000 if you want five doors, lots of equipment and the x-shift transmission. Manual cars have CO2 emissions of 95g/km while x-shift versions are rated at 97g/km. Vehicle Excise Duty is therefore £0 on all of them. Official combined fuel economy is 68.9mpg and 67.3mpg respectively, though you won't approach either of these if you mostly drive in town.

Our Verdict

The first Aygo wasn't particularly impressive when it appeared in 2005, and we were hoping for much better when it was replaced nine years later. In that time it should have been possible to make something roomier, quieter and more refined than the replacement model has turned out to be. However much this car may appeal to younger buyers, or style-conscious older ones, we have to regret that, instead of designing the best city car on the market, all Toyota in fact did was make a better Aygo.