HYUNDAI has restyled its Amica city car – but the essential ingredient of value for money remains the tasty selling point.
The fresh styling makes the car look neat and perky, but it's the improved fuel economy and low purchase price that will catch the eye of potential buyers.
When these are combined with a cheap-as-chips insurance grouping and Hyundai's five year, unlimited mileage warranty, the Amica becomes a formidable contender in a highly competitive marketplace.
But there are some trade-offs that need to be accepted before flinging yourself into the Amica's arms.
When I climbed into the car and closed the door my arm and elbow banged on the armrest.
As you may gather, this car is on the narrow side resulting in a snug fit when it comes to shoulder room.
Leg room is also limited as the front seats, although comfortable, do not go back far enough, so any driver over 5ft 10ins tall tends to be a bit hunched up behind the wheel.
There is more than enough headroom, but you feel the dimensions could have been evened out somewhat to give more room all round.
Once inside though, both driver and passengers appreciate the view out as the Amica benefits from the use of plenty of glass.
And the boot is surprisingly spacious for a car this small making it a viable option for containing the weekly supermarket shopping.
There are two trims, GSI and CDX, which provide a decent level of equipment for the money. The former features radio/CD player, split-folding rear seat, driver's airbag, front electric windows, boot light and power steering, while the latter adds keyless entry, remote central locking, front fog lamps, alloy wheels, leather steering wheel and gear knob trim, plus Life on Mars air conditioning that has slide rule controls straight out the 1970s.
There's only one engine and with just 62bhp and the pull of a wet weekend in Barnsley the 1.1-litre power unit is never going to be a barnstormer taking more than 15 seconds to get from 0-62mph.
It's also a bit noisy as liberal use of the right foot is needed to coax out the engine's best efforts.
Where it does score though is perhaps where it matters most – in the wallet. Hyundai has improved the Amica's average fuel economy figure to more than 52mpg.
This is a car aimed at city driving so it is perhaps unfair to expect the handling to be anything other than neat and tidy which it is. Cornering could be better though, with the narrow tyres doing little to aid grip and the relatively tall chassis making body lean noticeable.
You'd expect a car costing just £6,500 to have cut corners somewhere – and it would be a fair expectation that build quality would be the first to suffer.
However, although the Amica clearly takes a basic approach, it's not rough and ready.
The materials used in the cabin can fairly be described as cheap and cheerful, but they're also robust and everything is well put together.
Safety equipment is limited though with the Amica fitted only with a driver's airbag, anti-lock brakes, side impact bars and seatbelt pre-tensioners.