HYUNDAI is taking a pot at the supermini masters with a new model brimming with competence.
The i20 handles well, has a frugal engine, and is comfortable to ride in. And at less than £10,000 it is competitively priced.
It is also rather nice looking, with tasteful touches of quality in the cabin, and an exterior shape that is trendy enough to mix and match with other compacts in its class.
But it is more than just the design, which attracts attention.
Whilst Hyundai's European design team have scored highly both inside and out, they have not just paid lip service to current trends.
They have added their own take on exactly what a family hatchback should look like. And because of these in-house design cues, this model range boasts an extra or two, in the customer appeal stakes.
The 1.4, five-door hatch, in Comfort trim, for example, is the car of choice. It has a very well appointed cabin, from its comfortable colour coded seating of fine cloth, to the soft touch plastic fascia, it exudes a similar kind of finishing touch one finds in far more expensive vehicles.
It certainly has no need to stand in the shadows. Indeed this hatch back should be proud of itself. Not only is it trendy, but it is well equipped with items like, air conditioning alloy wheels, electric windows front and rear, active head restraints and even a glove box cooler all parts and parcel of the standard fixtures and fittings.
The suspension and the five-speed gearbox compliment the engine range.
Whilst the 1.2 engined model is being heralded as the top seller I preferred the 1.4 version. I like the more powerful version because when driving with four up and a boot full of luggage the extra boost always comes in handy. I found the 1.4 engine was also gutsy enough to handle whatever I asked of it.
It is ideally suited to the vagaries of todays crowded roads. It cruises along with the rest without any hint of engine strain and overtakes long lines of slow-moving traffic with consummate ease
It is also easy to park, as I discovered when trying its ability on a shopping centre car park.
The 1.4, four-cylinder DOHC unit has a top speed of 112mph, can reach 60mph in 11.6 seconds and boasts a fuel return of 60.1mpg on the extra urban cycle. Overall it is claimed to average a creditable 50.4mpg.
Not only was I impressed by its performance, I was also impressed with the high-class interior on this model, which challenges the luxury interiors of many executive-sector vehicles.
This new Hyundai i20 is quite definitely a hatchback with grown up credentials.
Four six foot adults will fit in comfort and there is enough room in the boot for their luggage.
Whilst this is basically a compact it is still large enough to fulfil a role as a family transporter on a daily basis.
It would even be acceptable over long distance journey, and I would have no hesitation in taking it on the Grand Tour of Europe.
Like most modern cars this one has a green side. Its CO2 emission rating is 133g/km and its VED band is C.
Available with a five year unlimited mileage manufacture backed warranty and a ten-year anti-perforation warranty, the 1.4-litre i20 is a car for the long term and with a competitive price tag of only £9,945 on the road - a bargain if ever there was.