Five of the best city cars you can buy right now
Fiat Panda
We like the Panda a lot, and it’s criminally overlooked among the few city cars you’ve got left to choose from. It’s honest, cheerful and mostly free of the lifestyle flannel that plagues every car on sale. Just don’t fall for any of the hybrid nonsense: this is resolutely a petrol-driven car, and it’ll be among the last ones you’ll be able to buy.
Kia Picanto
The Picanto has learned from the likes of the Fiat Panda that drivers will forgive a lot inside a car as long as it’s presented in a fun way and is cheap to run. For a first car or something that’s just needed as a runabout, you can’t go at all wrong with the Picanto. It’s fun, frugal and feels like great value for money.
Hyundai i10
Well done Hyundai for having come up with a fresh city car when lots of other carmakers have canned theirs. Not everyone can afford to fork out loads of cash for an electric car, and there is still room in the market for cheap, small, fun, relatively simple
Fiat 500e
From our time with the little electric Fiat so far, we reckon the Italians have done a very decent job indeed. The new 500 looks clean and modern, but it still references the original nicely without straying into pastiche. We could do without the creepy Amarcord soundtrack at slow speeds, but crucially the 500e drives much better than the internal combustion-engined car that went before it. In fact, it makes you wonder why Fiat will still sell you a petrol-burning 500 at all.
Toyota Aygo X
It’s a fun little thing, the Aygo X, particularly in one of the bi-tone colours with the retractable fabric roof. It rides and steers impressively well too, although the little three-cylinder engine can feel a little gutless at anything above city speeds and the CVT ‘auto’ is truly, eye-wateringly awful.
