Vauxhall Astra
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Simplicity is key when you want to make a mark on the market. It's no good over-complicating a message because it will only get lost and forgotten. Which is why the launch of the Astra was an understated affair.
Journalists turned up, sat through a presentation on the new car, what technologies had been added and then, most importantly, got behind the wheel to test the latest version of Vauxhall's best selling car.
Perhaps that simplicity is because Vauxhall is confident that its new car can compete head on with its main rivals such as the VW Golf and Ford Focus, so there's little need for a fanfare. And that confidence is well placed.
I was a big fan of the previous generation's two-door GTC version. The chassis, although fairly standard for this type of car with a front MacPherson strut set up and rear torsion beam, had been delicately engineered to provide a lot of controlled fun on twisting roads. And the steering was direct so you knew where the wheels were in relation to your inputs. Thankfully that's all been carried over to this car. Which means that even in with four doors the body control is there, the assurance in steering is present, but so too is a bit more practicality.
North Wales was our test bed, and the quiet and sometimes complicated roads would have been a challenge for many cars, but the Astra is now a car that is as much a drivers car as you'd expect from a hatchback starting from £15,295.
There's a healthy range engines, but I would immediately go for the 1-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol. It's punchy enough with an output of 103bhp/125ft-lbs (77kW/170Nm).
But as much as the ride and handling and engines now hit the sweet spot, it also has a number of toys that help to challenge the segment leaders too. When the daylight starts to fade and you turn on the lights, LEDs illuminate your path.
In fact the headlights aren't just LEDs, but matrix technology, which means that individual diodes in the lamp can be turned on or off depending on the traffic you are following or what is coming down the opposite side of the road. The system makes sure you can have your high-beams on all the time without blinding other road users. It's a technology that is used in Audi's but Vauxhall is the first to bring it to this type of car at this price level.
Is the Astra perfect? No, what car is? Interior materials have improved but you occasionally find some trim that is a little too scratchy. But that's perhaps an easy area to see passed when the entire package is pretty damn good. The Golf and Focus need to up their game.