Vauxhall Agila range

VAUXHALL SLINGS THE SETSQUARE
The old Vauxhall Agila was best characterised as a box with a wheel at each corner. The latest version adds some style to the mix.


The demands placed on city cars grow ever more exacting with each passing generation. Time was when a city car needed to be small, economical and cheap to insure. Those times have gone. The latest Vauxhall Agila must satisfy those demanding better safety, higher quality, lower emissions and classier styling. First impressions look good.

Its Japan that we have to thank for the Vauxhall Agila. The original Agila model was, as many of you doubtless know, a rebadged version of the Suzuki Wagon R+, hastily rushed into production to plug a hole in Vauxhalls range that was being ruthlessly exploited by Fords massively successful Ka. In truth, the old Agila never stood a chance but ask anybody whos driven one and theyll attest to the fact that it was huge fun to drive and could carry four passengers a lot more comfortably than a Ka.

Despite offering more of what really counts for city car drivers than Fords cheeky Ka, the old Vauxhall Agila was just too boxy, too obviously Japanese and too clearly a rather cynical afterthought to really capture the publics imagination. Vauxhall were caught on the hop, not anticipating that demand existed for a car smaller and nippier than a Corsa but exist it did. Fast forward to today and as the Corsa has become bigger and more complex, the vacuum beneath it is even more apparent. Step forward the latest Agila. History has repeated itself in one sense insofar as the Agila is once again a shape youll see in Suzuki form their car dubbed the Splash but Vauxhall thinks their version will create bigger ripples and become the big fish in the small car pond.

Although Vauxhall are once again sharing technology with Suzuki, this time round things are being worked on a rather different basis. This is no outdated hand-me-down, the latest Agila sporting a bang up to date chassis and three engines that are certainly class competitive at the very least. The line up opens with a 64bhp 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol unit and continues with a punchier 85bhp 1.2-litre powerplant. This engine is also offered with the option of an automatic gearbox which would certainly take the strain out of nose-to-tail city traffic. The range topper will be the 74bhp 1.3-litre CDTi diesel thats also fitted to the Corsa and the Tigra. Rather underwhelming in the larger, heavier cars, it should endow the Agila with a reasonable amount of oomph.

The key criterion that Vauxhall wouldnt diverge from is a requirement for five doors in a city car. Kia showed that this was a strong attractor with its five-door Picanto, an otherwise fairly unremarkable car that garnered big sales because buyers didnt fancy herniated discs by hauling a child seat in and out of a three-door car. The Agila integrates those doors a good deal more cleanly than many city tots, the rising waistline of the car giving it a dynamic, wedgy appearance, albeit to the slight detriment of a good view out for shorter kids in the back.

The rear seat backs can also be folded down to create a totally flat load floor, serving up a total of 1,050 litres of available space. Suzuki Splash sister model aside, no other city car can touch this. The hip point for the front seat has been deliberately set high to make getting in and out of the car easy, offering a commanding view of the road and taking advantage of that high roofline. The styling is neat and very well resolved. Theres a certain degree of Mercedes A-Class in the wheel at each corner stance while the rear three-quarter has elements of Renault Modus to it. Overall, the Agila is a very clean and cohesive piece of work.

Even with tight pricing starting at 7,595 and a choice of three trim levels, the Agila will need to be at the top of its game to face down the best in the city car sector. Right now thats still the Fiat Panda, another car that offers five doors and plenty of interior space. Theres real change afoot in this sector though. The Ka is being pensioned off and a new model introduced, riding on the same platform as Fiats chi-chi new 500. The struggle to carve out decent market share isnt going to be pretty but a year or so will demonstrate this automotive evolution at work with the fittest surviving and the rest left to lick their wounds.

The Agila is coming equipped to do battle, with big car features such as optional ESP stability control and four airbags. It will certainly plump Vauxhalls bottom line up a bit better than the old Agila, a car which failed to make much of a dent in the public consciousness. Vauxhall has wisely retrenched and learned its lesson from that episode, incorporating the best assets of that car its space and five-door form with the style and engineering of a Ford Ka or a Fiat Panda. The choice of a diesel engine certainly isnt going to hurt sales either.

The old Agila managed nearly 50mpg in 1.0-litre form and was cheap to insure, courtesy of a group 2 rating. Expect this one to be equally attractive in terms of running costs, especially if you opt for the diesel variant. This compact but flexible citycar benefits from tax-busting CO2 figures of just 120g/km on both the entry-level petrol and diesel engines, meaning it will fall into VED Band B the cost of a tax disc being just 35 a year.

For a major car manufacturer, Vauxhall is a difficult company to second guess. It seems to pour resource at sometimes quite esoteric market sectors. For instance, the company was busy bring the VX220 roadster to market when it had no class competitive city car. While this doesnt end up looking too clever on the balance sheet, it keeps us industry watchers on our toes. A long line of rather niche models such as the Monaro, Signum and VXR versions of the Meriva and Zafira have rather distracted us from the pressing need for a genuine profit-making model slotted in beneath the Corsa. The latest Agila is just that car and should do very well.

Naturally much will hinge upon how aggressively Suzuki prices the Splash and there may well be a bit of a nod and a wink when it comes to predatory pricing in Vauxhalls home market. The broader range of dealerships may well be enough to swing things in Vauxhalls favour if pricing is set to be close. Now Im intrigued to see if the likes of Ford and Fiat can come up with anything better.

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