February launch for Suzuki Celerio

The Suzuki Celerio city car will go on sale in February 2015 and promises the interior space of a far larger car.

It will be powered by a 1.0-litre petrol engine with claimed fuel consumption of 65.7mpg and CO2 emissions of 99g/km, making it free from road tax. Suzuki says an even more economical engine will join the range next summer, with emissions of 84g/km and an even better MPG figure.

A manual gearbox will be offiered as standard, but next summer will see the addition of Suzuki's Auto Gear Shift automatic transmission. Suzuki says this technology offers the easy driving experience of an automatic without the usual negative impact on fuel economy that these gearboxes have.

The Suzuki Celerio promises to be more spacious than rival cars such as the Skoda Citigo. At 254 litres, the Celerio's boot is three litres bigger than the Skoda's.

Standard features on the Celerio include driver, passenger, side and curtain airbags, alloy wheels, air-conditioning, a DAB digital radio, a CD stereo, a USB port and Bluetooth phone connectivity. Electronic stability control will also be fitted to all models.

A number of trim levels will be offered, and Suzuki will announce details of these, along with additional equipment details, later this year.

Rivals for the Suzuki Celerio include the Hyundai i10, Fiat Panda and Skoda Citigo. Prices are expected to be similar to those of the outgoing Suzuki Alto, which starts from £7,199.

For all the latest reviews on the current Suzuki range, visit the Carbuyer Suzuki reviews page.