Skoda CitiJet concept teased

Skoda has confirmed it will unveil a new concept car, the CitiJet, at the Worthersee Golf GTI festival in Austria on May 28.

The cheeky drop-top, previewed on Skoda's global Facebook page, is based on the Czech company's ultra-compact 3.56-metre Citigo three-door, which won’t go on sale in Australia following the local axing of the almost identical Volkswagen up!, which was discontinued here after just 18 months due to slow sales.

Skoda has not indicated whether it plans to develop a production version of the roofless CitiJet.

The Skoda CitiJet project was started in November 2013 and has been designed and engineered by a group of young apprentices as part of the Skoda Auto Vocational School.

Everything from the body work to the electrics and interior of the sporty two-seater urban runabout was undertaken by students, while the design was overlooked by Skoda's current golden boy and head of design, Jozef Kaban.

Powered by a 55kW 1.0-litre petrol engine, the CitiJet has a top speed of 170km/h and accelerates to 100km/h in a claimed 13.9 seconds.

The front-wheel drive show car rides on 16-inch alloy wheels and features a rear spoiler, dual exhaust system and metallic blue paint work to create a sporty aesthetic.

The interior has also been tizzied up with a 300-Watt stereo (complete with LED illumination that pulses in time with music), red and white flourishes on the dash pad, leather accented seats and custom floor mats.

Although Skoda's apprenticeship program has been running since 1927, this is the first time such a show car project has been undertaken, according to the Czech company.

The Skoda trade school is free and "after successfully completing their training, all graduates receive a job offer at Skoda," reads a company's press statement.

"It is fantastic to see how committed and passionate our trainees have been in working on this project," explained Skoda Board Member for HR, Bohdan Wojnar.

"The Skoda CitiJet is an emotional vehicle study that is sure to catch the attention of the visitors at Wörthersee," he said.

The new model is expected to join other (still secret) concept cars from Volkswagen at the 33rd GTI Fan Meet at Worthersee, which can be likened to Australia’s SummerNats.

Worthersee was traditionally a festival held and attended exclusively by VW Golf GTI owners to show their cars and meet other owners, but has since become a 'Volkswagen Group' gathering, with Audi and Skoda models also in attendance. It is said that when the odd BMW and Mercedes cars show up, they are often pelted with eggs and beer bottles.