Toyota Urban Cruiser

Here's another eco-friendly Toyota – and it could be as successful as the Prius. The all-new Urban Cruiser is a Fiesta-sized hatchback that mixes MPV flexibility and chunky SUV looks with minimal running costs.

Joining a growing group of compact crossovers, such as Kia’s Soul, it goes on sale in May, priced from a rather lofty £14,500. With its chopped roof, high waistline, meaty wheelarches and beefed-up RAV4-style nose, the newcomer looks every inch the city tearaway.

Inside, the dash gets a cool centre stack, with the rev counter and speedometer housed in one dial. Although you sit too high, and rear seat space is limited, flexibility is impressive with a clever rear bench that folds virtually flat in one movement.

On the move, the driving experience is precise, if uninspiring, with accurate but light steering and agile handling. Although the ride
is quite firm, apart from that everything else is refined – particularly the super-smooth 100bhp 1.33-litre engine.

It isn’t particularly punchy, but hooked up to a stop-start system, it’s extremely eco-friendly, returning 51.4mpg combined and emitting 129g/km of CO2.

If you’re in the market for an alternative to a regular supermini, this could be it.

Rival: Kia Soul
Following the same SUV-meets-MPV formula, the Soul is quite spacious and handles well. Plus, it’s cheaper than the Toyota.