New Hyundai saloonis another i-catcher

For those who don’t need the extra carrying room this is the even more stylish alternative – and it comes £1,000 cheaper.

The sleek saloon might not be as versatile as the estate but it has a good 425 litres of boot space and has a roomy interior for driver and four passengers.

There’s a choice of three trim levels – Active, Style and Premium – and power options are one 1.6-litre GDI 151bhp petrol and a 1.7-litre CRDi diesel engine with two outputs, 114bhp and 134bhp.

My test car was an Active Blue Drive 1.7 CRDi and although it was the lower powered diesel model it proved to be responsive enough.

Accelerating from zero to 62mph in 12.3 seconds, it moved smartly up and down the six-speed manual transmission and sat quietly at motorway speeds.

The i40 is a big saloon that was also pretty nimble and went smoothly over numerous potholes so there was no faulting the ride comfort.

The Blue Drive technology in this model incorporates Stop & Go which helps achieve a whopping 76.3mpg on extra urban, 65.7mpg combined and 53.3mpg urban – as well as being good for the planet with CO2 emissions of 113g/km.

This Active model doesn’t disappoint on equipment either as standard features include 16-inch alloys, Bluetooth with voice recognition, leather steering wheel with audio controls, electric heated door mirrors with LED indicators and electric parking brake with automatic hold function.

On-the-road prices range from £17,395 to £24,895 with the £18,395 test car offering exceptional value – all coming with Hyundai’s five-year unlimited warranty, five years of roadside assistance and five years of vehicle health checks.