2019 Citroën C1 Owner’s Manual

Citroen’s range of compact city-friendly cars are sometimes divisive in their exterior styling, but it’s hard to deny their cheerful demeanor, bright colors, and pleasing features. It’s not a car built for real speed or power, but it offers a chic and fun runaround for those who need to get about town in a good-quality car.

It comes both as a 3-door and 5-door model, both of which are made striking by the unique exterior styling options on this French hatchback. The first thing one notices is the bright and vivid color, and the distinct curves of the body. Then you see the split-level headlights at the front, 3D-effect tail lights at the rear, a continuation of the vivid color scheme on the interior, and so it goes on. This is a car you can’t help but notice.

Its standard powertrain is a 1.0L unit outputting just 71-hp, which means it can feel a bit sluggish on the freeway or highway, but it holds its own and can get the job done eventually. It’s best-suited to an urban environment. It’s efficient, though, getting up to 48-mpg combined.

The interior is as quirky as the rest of the design, but not in a bad way. The driver cockpit includes a large single binnacle housing the speedometer, with the rest of the information being placed on floating binnacles atop the center stack. There’s keyless entry and start, a 7-inch touchscreen and Android Auto. You have to get up to the higher Flair and Feel trims in order to get Apple CarPlay, however.

The infotainment system isn’t the most intuitive. If anything, it feels unfinished, so it’s best to get the version with Apple and Android connectivity so you can rely on more familiar and better-developed features. It’s a comfortable cabin and the car is fun to drive. It’s a great-value supermini that’s built for city life.

You can find near-identical examples of this car on sale such as the Toyota Aygo and the Peugeot 108 - manufactured in the same plant in the Czech Republic.