Toyota Aygo X review

This is the all singing, all dancing and all hybrid Toyota Aygo X, refreshed and upgraded four years after it was introduced to prove that city cars do still exist... they just look a little bit different these days.

FYI, that X is actually pronounced “cross”, despite not being written out in full like on the back of the Yaris Cross. So there's... a complete lack of logic for you.

Rivals include the likes of the Dacia Sandero, Fiat 500, Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto, and Suzuki Swift. Not to mention the dinky Hyundai Inster and Renault 5 EVs, if you're that way inclined.

Right then, what’s new?

What do you notice about the competition? None of ‘em are hybrids. But this is. As of 2026 your only flavour of Aygo X is a 1.5-litre ‘full hybrid’, which is to say it has an electric motor and tiny battery to supplement the petrol power for incredible (and as we’ll get, entirely achievable) fuel economy. 76.4mpg is the official claim. Blimey. It’s a cost of living hero.

That engine’s also good for 114bhp – a jump of 43bhp over the old 1.0 3cyl – and 0-62mph is said to take 9.2 seconds. Pretty languid, but when you think the old car needed close to 15s… positively rapid by comparison.

Toyota has also updated the anti-roll bars, springs and dampers, and as it needed an entirely new ECU to look after the hybrid system, that in turn allowed for a bigger, seven-inch driver display. So this is no ‘swap out the headlights and be done with it’ facelift.

On which note, er, the headlights have changed. In fact the entire front has been restyled with a look more in keeping with the updated bZ4X and new Urban Cruiser. Headlamps conjoined masquerade ball-style is the modern thing, apparently.

We think it has some of the original Ford Ka about it, in its chunky stance and unashamed celebration of plastic wheelarch-meets-bumper trims. You can also have a peel-back fabric roof, creating a sort of semi-cabrio crossover city car.

What happened to the old Aygo?

Oh that died a long time ago, replaced by the X back in 2022. It's built on the same TNGA GA-B platform that underpins the Yaris and Yaris Cross.

Previously Toyota shunned hybrid tech for its tiddliest car because batteries and motors up costs, and city cars are designed to be cheap and cheerful. Clearly the squeeze from European legislation has made that impossible to sustain any longer.

So is it good to drive?

We’ll save the full explanation for the Driving tab, but the short answer is… it’s not bad. There’s little lag from the throttle, the brakes are easygoing, the steering is positively, unbelievably… fine. It all rubs along very well, which is exactly what you want from a little runabout.

Only when you accelerate hard does the Aygo X come unstuck: the noise soars, the wheels scrabble for traction (especially in the wet), and you get the overwhelming sense you’re not doing what the car wants. Which is to gently sip away at the fuel tank like it’s the last watering hole in the Sahara.

But it’s a small car, therefore nimble and easy to thread through tight gaps. You’ll love it for that.

Come on then, how expensive is it?

Prices for the X start at £21,595, which is getting on for five grand more than it cost as a non-hybrid a year ago. Jeepers. Suddenly the cheaper Sandero and i10 look massively more appealing, and if you’re open to going electric the Renault 5 is actually less money than this. Feels like an own goal to us.

There are four trim grades: Icon, Design, Excel and GR Sport. Click on the Buying tab of this review for the full skinny.

The Aygo X’s saving grace, of course, is its flat refusal to quickly burn through petrol. So if you do a lot of driving, you could eventually make your money back.

It’s a fun little thing, the Aygo X, although that’s partly because it’s one of the few truly small cars left. It rides and steers well enough, although the new hybrid engine is gruff when you put your foot down and the CVT 'auto' is truly, eye-wateringly awful. No manual now either.

It’s a shame there’s not a 4WD version to rival Fiat’s joyous Panda 4x4. That could have given the Aygo X a little more character, something that’s lacking even with the option of bi-tone colours and a retractable fabric roof. Still, we're glad Toyota's fighting the good fight to keep the city car alive and if you want to make a tank of petrol go far, look no further.