SKODA Citigo

SKODA is going to showcase their new Citigo city car as a five-door version for the first time at the Geneva Auto Salon. This five-door version will be launched in European markets together with the three-door version from around mid-May 2012.

The Citigo represents SKODA’s entry into the fast growing subcompact segment and is already being used in the Czech Republic. This new city car has been awarded five stars in the Euro NCAP crash test and is also the first SKODA model to sport the brand’s new logo.

The Citigo is powered by a three-cylinder petrol engine in two versions with 60 hp or 75 hp and in its most efficient Green tec variant, the new Citigo achieves CO₂ emissions  of just 96 g CO₂/km.

Skoda MissionL

SKODA’s is attending the 2012 Qatar Motor Show where it will be showcasing their MissionL concept saloon. This car is a close-to-production concept and reveals the future design direction for the SKODA brand. The visit to the Qatar Motor Show also demonstrates their future international growth strategy plans.

The new compact MissionL saloon will be launched in late 2012 and will extend the model range of the brand in a new segment between the Fabia and Octavia models. The MissionL is destined for Qatar as well and SKODA aims to substantially increase their global sales of all car models to at least 1.5 million units per year, by 2018. In addition to the MissionL, SKODA is also displaying the latest Fabia, Octavia, Yeti and Superb models at the show.

The MissionL concept saloon impresses with its clear and precise lines with the front showing SKODA’s new brand design. The revised and freshened-up SKODA logo is now prominently positioned on the bonnet’s rounded front end and the grille sports a chrome frame and is made of vertical plate fins. There is also a black transparent glass roof that spans across the car’s interior with the cockpit conveying its spaciousness thanks to its horizontal arrangement.  

If you are interested in leasing a brand new Skoda car then we have the full Skoda model range on the site on contract hire.

Octavia Green E Line

SKODA has just started road testing the new Octavia Green E Line, their first pure electric vehicle, and is working closely with the Volkswagen Group to gain practical experience with electric propulsion.

The Octavia Green E Line test fleet is based on the Octavia Combi as the chassis from the Combi is ideal for holding the battery, electronic controllers and electric motor. The Octavia Green E line is ideal for inner-city driving and will reach 0-62mph in 12 seconds and onto a top speed of just under 84mph.

The battery pack is situated under the middle and rear floor panel and in part of the boot so is well hidden, allowing the car to seat five adults, plus it has a range of around 93 miles. It takes around 8 hours to fully charge at 230V (single-phase AC) and 2 hours at 400 V (three-phase AC).

In addition to developing its first electric vehicle, SKODA is also continue to bring cars to the market that offer fuel-efficient economical engines with low CO2 emissions. The brand has seven models that manage an average CO2 of less than 100g/km and a total of 63 models that emit less than 130g/km.

If you are interested in finding some of the lowest CO2 cars on the market today, have a go on our Vehicle Type shopper. Just select the type of car (or van) you are looking for and set the range of CO2. You can also see the latest business contract hire (or personal) prices too.

Subaru Forester

The updated Subaru Forester has recently been named as ‘Junior Crossover of the Year’ by the specialist off-roading magazine, Total 4×4. The Forester is now available with a choice of revised petrol and diesel Boxer engines, faced stiff competition from the likes of a Toyota Urban Cruiser, Suzuki SX4 and Skoda Octavia Scout. 

However, thanks to its Symmetrical All-Wheel-Drive configuration, car-like driving dynamics and exceptional practicality, the Total 4X4 magazine judges singled-out the Japanese crossover for the highest praise, saying: “Typically of Subaru, the Forester does very good things without making a fuss of it. The combination it offers of quality, value, practical usability and driving talent makes it very hard indeed to beat.

The 2.0-litre Boxer diesel Forester range, which returns an impressive 47.9 combined mpg, starts at £23,070 (on-the-road) for the entry-level 2.0D X, rising to £25,070 for the 2.0D XC, and £29,070 for the range-topping 2.0D XS NavPlus. If you prefer petrol power you have a choice of two models – the Forester 2.0X and 2.0XS, costing £21,370 and £25,370 respectively in manual guise.  Automatic versions are available at a £1,000 premium and Subaru contract hire prices are on the site now.

SKODA celebrates

SKODA has just celebrated an important milestone with the 1,500,000th Octavia second-generation model rolling off the production line, at the company’s main plant in Mlada Bolesav. The above figure of 1,500,000 does not include the production numbers of the “MingRui” (same car) which is sold in China.

The exact model that rolled off the line was a white Octavia Combi GreenLine version and the Octavia is renowned for its quality, reliability, practicality and price performance ratio. The Octavia comes in many versions including an estate, saloon, as well as all-wheel drive versions and of course the sporty RS. In addition SKODA is developing its electric car mobililty with the Octavia Green E-Line as well.

The Octavia Green E-Line will undergo testing in a matter of weeks with eleven vehicles being used in the Czech Republic to collate real-world data, to further refine the car. Skoda contract hire is on the site now for the current car range.

Skoda VisionD Concept

SKODA has just released images of its stunning new VisonD Concept which was first shown off at the Geneva Motor show in March of this year. This new concept clearly shows off some of the future styling cues for future SKODA cars.

The model has a longwheel base and shortoverhangs, with a distinctive and sporty design and conveys a youthful, yet contemporary appearance.

Skoda VisionD Concept

SKODA UK had a record year last year selling over 41,000 vehicles, which was up 10.5% when compared to the previous year and now has around a 2% market share in the UK. They have also been in the top ten of the J.D. Power of Customer Satisfaction for the past 18 years and are renowned for their reliability and offer fleet customers great value for money.

SKODA Citigo

The new SKODA Citigo city car has just been awarded the maximum five star safety rating by Euro NCAP, with the Euro NCAP testers praising the car for its level of standard safety equipment. The SKODA Citigo is also the first city car to be awarded five stars by Euro NCAP, so this is a major coup for the brand.

The Citigo received praise for its safety assistance systems, passenger protection and was also highly rated in the whiplash test. Infant safety also scored well and in particular, the Citigo has head-throrax airbags and belt fastening reminders as standard across the range.

Together with the Volkswagen up! and SEAT Mii, the SKODA Citigo offers a low-speed, active emergency braking assistant called City Safe Drive. This technology operates automatically at speeds lower than 18mph and depending on the speed and level of traffic, can mitigate the affects of a crash or prevent it altogether.

Lightning GT

The British designed and built Lightning GT supercar has been entered into the 2011 RAC Future Car Challenge which is on the 5th November. The 60-mile route is from Madeira Drive in Brighton to London’ Regent Street with the challenge for each entrant to use as little energy as possible.

The Lightning GT has two electric motors providing 300kW (about 400hp) to the rear wheels and has a 0-60mph time of just 5 seconds, with a top speed of 125mph. The range of the car is over 150 miles and with the addition of the range extender pack this increases to 225 miles. Charging takes as little as 10 minutes with an”ultrafast” off-board charger, 2.5 hours with the on-board charger and 15 hours from a domestic charger (using an adaptor).

There are around 80 low-energy pioneering cars competing in the RAC event from hybrid, hydrogen and low emission combustion engine cars and commercial vehicles, with manufacturers such as Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota , Nissan, Vauxhall, Skoda and Volkswagen all participating.

If you are interested in leasing a low emission, fuel efficient car, then try the Vehicle Type Leasing Shopper where you can select the bodystyle, CO2 emissions target and combined mpg you require.

Volkswagen Ensurance

Volkswagen Insurance Services (VIS) has just launched a new product called “Ensurance” which works with any car insurance policy and then provides a full accident management and support service using the Volkswagen Group repairer network. The new product was launched on the 15th July 2011 and has an annual cost of £49.99.

The new product does not work on referral fees or increased courtesy cars cars costs paid in the background and all work is carried out by VW Group trained technicians, using genuine VW parts and a courtesy car will be provided for a wider range of circumstances than usual credit hire arrangements.

The Ensurance product can bought for all new and used Audi, SEAT, SKODA and Volkswagen branded vehicles and full details by these brands can be found as follows;

• Volkswagen- www.volkswagen-ensurance.co.uk
• Audi – www.audi-ensurance.co.uk
• SKODA- www.skoda-ensurance.co.uk
• SEAT – www.seat-ensurance.co.uk

The RAC Future Challenge

This year the RAC Future Challenge 2011 is taking place on Saturday the 5th November 2011 and is open to electric, hybrid, hydrogen and low-emission internal combustion engine cars and light-commercial vehicles. The challenge invites contenders to drive a 60-mile route from Brighton to London with the aim to use the least amount of energy.

This year the event organisers are using experts from Imperial College London to provide the expertise and neutral input to the event’s regulations, measurements and the results analysis. All vehicle entrants will be supplied with the necessary FCC data-loggers and sensors to ensure everyone has a fair chance to overcome any fitting problems and also to ensure all data recorded is accurate.

Last year’s car manufacturer entry list included prototypes, pre-production vehicles and current production cars from the likes of BMW, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota, Skoda, Vauxhall and Nissan. For 2011 the total number of entries has been increased to 90 and because of the diversity of the vehicles involved, there are a range of awards in 20 different categories. The vehicle type energy categories have been revised to the following:

1. Pure Electric (EV)
2. Extended-Range/Plug-in Electric (E-REV, PHEV)
3. Hybrid (HV, HEV)
4. Hydrogen (HFEV)
5. Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) – up to 110g/km CO2 emission fuelled by any legal means