Aygo reborn as SUV city car

New high-rise Toyota model gains Yaris platform, rugged looks and more space

- FELIX PAGE

The Toyota Aygo has been reborn as an ultra-compact SUV with a rugged-looking design and an overarching focus on affordability.

Staying true to the ethos of the boldly styled Prologue concept revealed earlier this year, the new Aygo – now wearing the X suffix in a nod to its baby SUV billing – is described as “unique in the A-segment”. It takes over from its conventional predecessor as the smallest model in Toyota’s line-up, sitting beneath the Yaris.

Despite the car’s widereaching reinvention, Toyota has carried over many of the second-generation Aygo’s defining features, such as its retractable canvas roof, one-piece glass bootlid and vertical tail-light clusters.

Although the overall height has been raised by 50mm, the Aygo’s squat silhouette remains largely intact, too, with its short overhangs, tall glasshouse and bluff rear end hinting at a focus on maximising space while maintaining agility in urban environments.