Citroen C1 review - does French hatch offer the thrill of city driving? - MPG and running costs

This is where the Citroen C1 shines. No version of the car emits more than 99g/km so there's no road tax to pay. For company buyers on the first rung of the new car ladder, this also means low Benefit in Kind tax. Add stop-start to the 1.0-litre engine and emissions drop from 95- to 88g/km, meaning it drops a further one per cent on the BIK scale. For everyone else, low CO2 ratings correlate with low fuel consumption. So the stop-start equipped 1.0-litre versions of the C1 return 74.3mpg on the combined cycle, while the standard 1.0's official figure is 68.9mpg.

The addition of the automatic gearbox reduces the C1's efficiency a tad, with 67.3mpg and 97g/km figures, while the 1.2-litre engine returns 65.7mpg and 99g/km. In reality, there's little to choose between the fuel consumption during real world use of all versions as the smaller engine needs to be driven harder to achieve the same performance as the 1.2.

For buyers keeping a close tab on monthly costs, Citroen offers its 'SimplyDrive' leasing scheme. Terms and conditions apply of course, but the C1 is available from £159 per month, inclusive of insurance, routine servicing and breakdown assistance.