Toyota has announced the launch of two new editions of its city car Aygo for 2009.
With 300,000 sold in Europe since 2005, the Aygo has quickly established itself as one of Toyota’s most popular models in both new and used car markets.
The Japanese automaker has decided to celebrate this face by unveiling the Aygo Blue and Aygo Black, two new variations on the familiar city car theme which are both powered by Toyota’s three-cylinder 1.0-litre VVT-i petrol engine.
Designed with an emphasis on "comfort and convenience", the Aygo Blue arrives with Bluetooth connectivity and air conditioning as standard.
Aygo Black is aimed at the more style-conscious drivers and offers a black metallic exterior, 14-inch alloy wheels, Alcantara and leather upholstery.
Top Gear, which made the Aygo its Car of the Year in 2005 alongside the Bugatti Veyron, demonstrated the versatility of the Toyota model with its famous ‘car football’ game in Series 6.
Written by Roxy Moran
Toyota has had a spring clean of its award-winning Aygo city car and given it a cool Slate Blue metallic paint finish in time for the summer.
The revamp is first noticeable from the outside, where even the door mirrors and bumper inserts have been given the blue treatment.
Step inside the cabin and you can see the blue beneath your driving shoes in the forms of new carpet mats with matching blue stitching: there’s also slate blue bezels for the air vents and instrument display.
Matching Aygo Platinum at the top of the model range, the Blue version offers an attractive array of premium equipment features.
In keeping with the blue theme, there is also Bluetooth connectivity and if you’re still not satisfied there are two accessory packs available.
The first – Aygo Xtra Protected – offers rear parking sensors, mud flaps and unpainted rear and side protection strips.
The second, Aygo Style, can provide alloy wheels, front fog lamps and front scuff plates.
Yours for just £7,995 on the road, the car comes in three-door of five-door models.
The Toyota Aygo has been named the Axa Northern Ireland car of the year 2006-07 at a ceremony in Belfast.
Toyota was presented with its award by members of the Ulster Motoring Writers Association (UMWA) at a prestigious event on March 15th.
Jim McCauley, chairman of the UMWA, said that the end result was a tight decision but emphasised that the Aygo was a worthy winner.
"Of all the vehicles judged in this year’s competition the Toyota Aygo received the ultimate accolade for its charm, performance, economy and low running costs," Mr McCauley said.
"Although one of three cars built on the same platform, the overall personality of the Aygo and the thorough integration of its corporate identity saw it nudge through to take the honours."
The Aygo came first ahead of the Citroen C1 in the small car category and went on to overcome stiff competition in the form of the other group winners.
They were the BMW 330d, which won the medium car category, the Lexus IS250, from the executive car group, the Audi RS4 from the sporting segment and the Range Rover Sport from the leisure car category.
Renault was presented with the safety engineering award for its attainment of a five-star Euro NCAP rating.
Toyota Aygo owners saw their cars lose less value than a range of other popular models last year, according to research from Parker’s Car Guides.
The model saw an average depreciation of £2,082 in 2006, with 26 per cent of the purchase price typically being lost.
According to the Parker’s guide, the Aygo retains value as demand from buyers is constantly high, owing to the car’s affordability and the fact that it is easy to drive.
The Toyota topped a list that was dominated by small cars – nine out of the top ten vehicles in the list were small hatchbacks, with the Honda Jazz in second place and the Peugeot 107 in third.
Kieren Puffet, editor of the Parker’s car price guide, said: "Small cars today do nearly everything that larger ones further up the range do. They’re well equipped, frugal and often come with space-maximising practicality.
"Demand is strong for the best models, which keeps prices high. Last year it was seven in the top ten, this year it’s nine. It’s a trend that shows no sign of stopping."
The cars to depreciate most last year were the Maybach 57 and 62 models, according to the study, which lost £89,908 and £98,998 respectively.
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