Scrappage deal means bargains in the already cheap city car segment

THE CITY car segment has never traditionally been a big seller in Ireland: the saving compared to a supermini hasn’t been big enough and the cars were often something of a compromise, coming with only three doors, or with an engine too small for the variety of roads Irish motorists face.

Things are changing. Thanks to a new breed of city car, and to collaborations between the major manufacturers, they are cheaper to make and to buy. The Citroen C1, Peugeot 107 and Toyota Aygo are essentially the same thing and all qualify for the scrappage scheme by virtue of their low emission 1.0-litre 3-cylinder engines.

There is €3,000 off the price of the Peugeot and €2,500 from the Toyota model, including the Government’s €1,500 allowance. This means the 107 starts from €8,845 under the scheme and the Aygo from €8,430.

While the Chevrolet Matiz qualifies for scrappage, it is too long in the tooth to be taken seriously. Better are the excellent Fiat Panda and 500. The scrappage scheme offers up to €1,500 off the VRT. In the case of the Panda, the VRT was €1,255 starting off, so this is taken from the price of the entry Panda, with a further reduction of €1,745 through Fiat’s EcoPlus bonus. This means the five-door Panda drops to just €6,995. Fiat’s fashionable three-door 500 model now starts at €9,995 under the scheme, with the convertible starting at just €14,647.

A sister car to the 500 is the Ford Ka. The Ka shares a platform and is built at the same factory as the 500. In addition to the €1,500 the Government allow with scrappage against the Ka, Ford will match this figure, reducing the price to €7,995 as a special scrappage price and making it €2,000 less than the cheapest 500 under the scheme.

Hyundai have adopted an aggressive pricing approach to the scrappage scheme. The Hyundai i10, a five-door model, stands out among city cars. The 1.2-litre, 78bhp i10 is a good little car and comes with a choice of manual or automatic transmission. Hyundai will add a further €2,000 to the Governments €1,500 discount, so the i10 starts at €8,495.

Further reductions are offered on the Kia Picanto, a 60bhp 1.0-litre 5-door city car now selling for €8,455. The i10 and the Picanto are similar but the Hyundai would get our vote between those two.

The Nissan Pixo was the country’s cheapest car before the scrappage scheme, at €9,855, but Nissan dont offer any further incentive to the Government’s €1,500 discount. The Pixo starts at €8,355 under the scheme.

Other contenders

: Opel Agila: five-door; 1.0-litre, 1.2-litre or a 1.3-litre diesel; prices from €10,400 with scrappage; some dealers offering a further €1,500 on all scrappage qualifying cars. Renault Twingo: Band B car; from €8,950 including Renault scrappage allowance and €1,500 Governmentallowance. Suzuki Alto and Splash: 1.0-litre Alto from €8,690, Splash from €11,735; Volkswagen Fox from €8,990.

Scrappage Hero

: Hyundai i10 for its value, drive and honest specification.