Photo: Skoda
Analysts estimate a drop in demand for electric vehicles once the world starts recovering from the current health crisis, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by how popular the Skoda Citigo-e iV has proved in the UK.
Introduced last year, the cheap EV promises a range of up to 170 miles (273 km) and a fast charge of up to 80 percent in one hour, through the Combined Charging System. Nearly 400 units were allocated to the UK market and they have all sold out.
Demand for the Citigo-e iV has proved so overwhelming that Skoda has temporarily removed it from sale, until factories reopen. The Skoda UK website still includes it, but with the mention that it’s no longer available for order. Skoda shuttered production facilities in mid-March, in compliance with government recommendations to flatten the curve, and no estimated date for re-opening them has been made public yet.
A company spokesperson confirms for Autocar that all 400 units sold out in the UK in as little as 60 days. They were delivered to dealers in late January and had already found owners by mid-March, when factories shut down, surpassing even the most optimistic forecast.
“We had lofty expectations for the car and customer demand was exceptionally high. As a result, it sold out quicker than expected,” the spokesperson confirms.
Skoda models that are produced in higher volumes, like Superb, Fabia and Octovia, are still in stock. It’s clear that this unexpected situation was partly due to the fact that fewer items were shipped to the UK market, but it also reveals an increased interest in electric vehicles here.
With 81 hp and a top speed of 130 kph (80 mph), the Skoda Citigo-e iV hatchback was listed at $17,445 ($21,800) for the entry-level model and £19,815 ($24,700) for the upper-specced one.
Demand for the Citigo-e iV has proved so overwhelming that Skoda has temporarily removed it from sale, until factories reopen. The Skoda UK website still includes it, but with the mention that it’s no longer available for order. Skoda shuttered production facilities in mid-March, in compliance with government recommendations to flatten the curve, and no estimated date for re-opening them has been made public yet.
A company spokesperson confirms for Autocar that all 400 units sold out in the UK in as little as 60 days. They were delivered to dealers in late January and had already found owners by mid-March, when factories shut down, surpassing even the most optimistic forecast.
“We had lofty expectations for the car and customer demand was exceptionally high. As a result, it sold out quicker than expected,” the spokesperson confirms.
Skoda models that are produced in higher volumes, like Superb, Fabia and Octovia, are still in stock. It’s clear that this unexpected situation was partly due to the fact that fewer items were shipped to the UK market, but it also reveals an increased interest in electric vehicles here.
With 81 hp and a top speed of 130 kph (80 mph), the Skoda Citigo-e iV hatchback was listed at $17,445 ($21,800) for the entry-level model and £19,815 ($24,700) for the upper-specced one.
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