The engines - a three-cylinder 1.0-litre petrol, a four-cylinder 1.2-litre petrol and a 1.3-litre turbodiesel - all come from Suzuki, which builds the car for Vauxhall. The diesel-engined versions are far too expensive to recommend, but the 1.0 makes the car really good fun to drive, while the 1.2 offers a bit more flexibility for motorway driving. Models with the 1.0 petrol and the diesel engines carry Vauxhall’s Ecoflex badge, meaning that they are particularly good on economy and emissions.

For a humble family runabout, the Agila exhibits real personality. It does all the sensible stuff well, riding all but the roughest roads comfortably and feeling calm and composed on motorways, but it can also be a real hoot to drive, with a degree of finesse not expected in a car at this level.

Small engines need working hard at times, and hard-worked engines can sometimes be a bit noisy. That said, those in the Agila are no worse than in most rivals and not difficult to live with. Road and wind noise are barely present, too. Smooth controls make the car easy to drive.

Compared with the near-identical Suzuki Splash, the Agila is pricey, and it's disappointing that not one model has carbon dioxide emissions below 120g/km. Day-to-day running costs will be low, but resale values are unlikely to be anything special.

Vauxhall has tried hard to smarten up the interior with a textured finish on the dash top and a few bright highlights on the switches and controls. Mostly, the Agila disguises that it is a budget car in all but price. It is built by Suzuki, so mechanical reliability is pretty much guaranteed.

Where Suzuki provides six airbags and stability control as standard on the Splash, Vauxhall fits only four and asks £400 for stability control. Considering the Agila's pricing, this is disappointing. Remote locking with deadlocks is fitted to all but the base Expression version.

There's more than enough seat and steering adjustment to allow most people to make themselves comfortable, and the controls are where you want them and easy to use. However, thick pillars can hamper your view when turning or reversing, and the rev counter (on models that have one) is perched on a stalk like an afterthought.

In a car less than four metres long you get plenty of space for four people and a boot that, although hardly big, holds more than you'd think. The rear seats fold down if you need extra space (but not in the base model), and some versions have extra space beneath the boot floor.

At best, equipment on the Agila is no more than adequate and at the bottom of the range it could be viewed as mean. Entry-level Expression models don't even get a split rear seat, and you have to move up to range-topping Design trim to get air-conditioning and alloy wheels - but you'll pay heavily for them.