The best city cars for commuters

The Hyundai i10 is a great looking city car with agile handling and a spring in its step. It makes driving in urban settings and manoeuvring through busy city streets fun and easy. And when it comes to parking, the car’s compact size helps it fit into those small spaces larger cars have to drive by.

Best of all, the car is great value for money with an affordable starting price and low running costs. It is economical too, managing over 50 miles-per-gallon.

And despite the car’s compact dimensions, inside it is comfortable and actually spacious – ideal for longer journeys or whilst sitting in traffic. 

The Kia Picanto is a fantastic city car for commuters, with its light and nippy steering providing a go-kart-like level of handling. It has a narrow body, which adds to the feel, and offers a surprisingly good driving experience. W

hat’s more the car comes with lots of standard equipment and it has cheap running costs too, proving good value for money.

And despite its diminutive size (very handy for parking in the city), the Kia Picanto has a practical interior, with the rear seating spacious enough to accommodate adults (for giving lifts home from work) and a 255-litre boot for storage.  

The Volkswagen Up is a well-built car that’s good to drive. It is also the sister to the Seat Mii and Skoda Citigo, the three vehicles sharing the same platform. Yet the VW Up just pips the others to the post for having the better looks and smarter interior. 

The car is available as an all-electric model, the e-Up, for eco-friendly city driving and those low running costs. If you want more performance on your way to work, there is a turbocharged mini hot hatch version too, the Up GTI. On paper, most models do upwards of 60 miles per gallon (MPG) and the car’s small dimensions are great for nipping about the city.

If you like to customise your ride, the VW Up comes with a wealth of personalisation options – great for setting the right ambience for your commute.  

One of the cheapest cars on today’s market, and available at very affordable used prices, the Suzuki Celerio represents an excellent run-around for day-to-day commuting, thanks to its low cost price and even cheaper running costs.

By class standards, it offers a bit more practicality than other city cars by being slightly larger than rivals and those extra dimensions result in an extra spacious cabin. While it may not match others on this list for driveability or interior quality, it does offer a decent driving experience with its light kerb weight.

It has an excellent reliability rating too, and is a class-leader in that regard. The Celerio represents fantastic value for money and a particularly good option if you are looking for a low-cost second car for your daily commute.  

Near identical to the VW Up and Seat Mii, the Skoda Citigo ticks all the same driving boxes as its sister cars, in a good way of course and with a different name badge. Or, rather, that used to be the case. The new Citigo-E iV is now only available as an all-electric vehicle (EV).

And it’s one of the cheapest electric cars you can buy, which is great news for commuters looking for low running costs. It’ll be charged from 0-80% in an hour with a 40kW rapid CCS charger and has an ideal range of 164 miles, which is well-suited to city driving. 

It handles and performs much like the VW Up, but as an EV it feels a little punchier with the electric powertrain for acceleration, great for getting around town.

However, if you like the Citigo, but would rather a petrol version, you can always find a great selection of used models to choose from. 

Not one to feel left out in the forward march to EVs, the new Seat Mii has followed the Skoda Citigo, trading in its petrol engine to become an all-electric car as well.

Likewise, it is a solidly built, cheap EV with fine engineering, good range (161 miles), and a punchy start from a standstill. As with the Citigo and e-Up, an electric powertrain makes total sense in these small city cars, giving them an extra spring in their step and even greater economy – perfect for darting throughout the city to and from the office, and even better if you’re able to charge your car at work too. 

The three platform sharing cars have near-equal performance too, so you can choose the one you like the look of most or find the model with the best deal.  

Small and light, with bold styling, the Toyota Aygo is an agile city car that’s perfect for navigating rush hour traffic and nipping around town. It’s a frugal vehicle too, with high mileage to the gallon and an affordable starting price. 

Inside, the cabin is of a good quality and rather comfortable for longer journeys. It’s fairly spacious for a city car as well, though the rear seats are best reserved for children if you’re travelling a great distance. 

Handily, all trim levels (except basic) come with a useful rear-view camera for helping you park in those small city spaces with ease. And when it comes to performance, the Aygo offers a decent driving experience and good handling too.  

If you want a city car that offers a little bit more than a regular city car, then the Suzuki Ignis is a characterful vehicle worth looking at. It has stylish, chunky SUV crossover looks and it is available as a 4×4 and a mild hybrid for efficiency and those all-important lower running costs.

Inside, the car is spacious, comfortable, and very practical considering its outwardly small dimensions, which is a point that only adds to the vehicle’s charm and usefulness as a city car.

For driving around town, the Ignis is a lot of fun thanks to its lightweight build and it has excellent fuel economy, proving very cheap to run. It has a solid reliability record and comes well-equipped too.

The Suzuki Ignis is a fantastic little run-around with a difference, perfect for the daily commute.  

A good city car for commuting doesn’t have to be all about function and practicality. It can be playful too, like the Fiat 500, arguably the most iconic city car on the market.

Whilst space is a bit more of a premium in the 500 compared to others on this list, the car stands at the very front when it comes to styling. And for those who like to make a car their own, the Fiat 500 boasts a tremendous amount of personalisation options.

It’s also available as a convertible letting you drive to work on a hot summer’s day in style. With an affordable starting price, the popular car proves good value for money and there’s now the choice of a mild-hybrid too, for better fuel economy.  

The Peugeot 108 is a city car that’s fun to drive, with light steering, a tight turning circle, and a go-kart feel. It is a frugal vehicle as well, offering high MPG, low running costs, and a good level of reliability. 

Like the VW Up, the Skoda Citigo, and the Seat Mii, the Peugeot 108 is part of a trio of sister cars with the Toyota Aygo and the Citroen C1, the latter of which is also a great city car worthy of consideration. 

When it comes to looks, the Peugeot 108 has the funkier and more attractive styling of the three, but when it comes to performance, they are all very similar. In other words, if you like the Peugeot 108 or the Aygo or the Citroen C1, it is a good idea to check all three out to find the best deal available.