Sector: MPV Price: £11,900–£16,950 Fuel: 54.3–78.5mpg CO2: 95–119g/km

Nissan has taken the frumpy old Note and given it a new lease of life. And it needed to, if its plans to go head-to-head with the likes of the Ford Focuses and Volkswagen Polos of this world are to succeed.

So, gone is the Note's dowdy MPV exterior, replaced with one that's much funkier. It is a well thought-out piece of styling too; interesting enough to entice a younger audience, yet not too radical to alienate past customers.

The interior is best described as functional. The plastics feel cheap and the front seats are too short in the swab to be classed as comfortable. However, according to Nissan, back seat passengers have the best rear space in its class. The rear bench also slides forward to increase boot space from 325 litres to 411 litres, or 1,202 litres with it folded flat.

These include a three-cylinder 1.2-litre direct-injection petrol with 79bhp, and a supercharged version of the same engine with 97bhp. It's the latter which offers the lower emissions, at 99g/km rising to 119g/km for the CVT gearbox, and is better suited to shifting the Note's bulk.

Then there’s the Renault-sourced oil-burner. Out of the three, it is this 85bhp 1.5-litre dCi turbodiesel that is most suited to the Note and expected to take around 60% of UK sales. It is marginally slower though – 0-62mph in 11.9 seconds, as opposed to 11.7 seconds for the DIG-S. Plenty of mid-range torque disguises its modest output, making it feel much faster than it actually is. It’s the most efficient too, emitting just 95g/km of CO2 emissions, and, with a combined fuel consumption of just 78.4mpg, the most frugal.

As before, prices have been pegged back to four levels of trim. The entry-level 1.2-litre Visia has increased by £250, to £11,900, but it now comes with more standard equipment, although it doesn’t include that sliding rear bench. It can only be found, as standard, on the other three, higher trims – Acenta, Acenta Premium, and Tekna.