Toyota has revealed a new city car concept, reimagining the segment with ‘a fresh set of eyes’.
The result is the Aygo X Prologue, a lifted, more funky-looking version of the popular Aygo supermini.
Toyota’s European design studio (ED2) in the south of France was tasked with proving that vehicles traditionally considered to be an ‘entry point’ to car ownership could still be desirable with stand-out design.
(Toyota)
Aygo buyers are considered to be style-conscious, so the X Prologue had to have ‘flair and distinctiveness’. As such, it gets a more striking look than the already funky Aygo, with claw-like headlights that swoosh around to provide a full-width running light between the bumper and bonnet.
It also has sharp creases in the doors, while the rear is familiar from the regular car with the black boot lid and vertical taillights, but like the front, these now become full-width. The overall appearance is now much higher, too, with bigger wheels and raised suspension.
(Toyota)
The latter is designed to soak up road imperfections better while the two combined give a raised driving position to give the driver a better view forward.
It also gets a new paint job called Sparkling Chilli Red, which the firm says is inspired by hot food ingredients such as ‘chilli, ginger, wasabi and black pepper, with chilli the spiciest of them all’.
Ian Cartabiano, president of Toyota’s European design studio, said: “Everybody deserves a cool car. When I look at the Aygo X Prologue, I’m really proud to say that the ED2 team have created exactly that. I’m excited to see it revolutionising the segment.”
Keyword: The Aygo X Prologue is Toyota’s city car vision of the future