Sector: Hatchback Price: £25,845–£28,895 Fuel: 44.1–47.1mpg CO2: 139–149g/km

If I was a user chooser, and had to have a mid-level company car, I would seriously consider the new Volkswagen Golf GTI.

Shock horror, it’s petrol-powered! Amazeballs, it’s a performance car! But this is a 220bhp, beautifully built, superbly comfortable and handsome, great to drive car. And it does nearly 50mpg when driven carefully and costs barely any more than the previous model. The new GTI is powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged direct-injection petrol TSI engine, and prices are only around £195 more than the last version.

Interior highlights include climate control, sports seats with the classic tartan cloth, a bespoke sports steering wheel, gear lever and instrument cluster, trim strips and stainless steel pedal caps. The standard touchscreen infotainment system also includes DAB digital radio, Bluetooth and iPod connectivity, so you are never short of little luxuries.

The standard model accelerates to 62mph in 6.5 seconds, and gets the power down well: Volkswagen has never gone mad with the performance of the GTI, so it is less manic than some of its competitors, and it feels more stable too. The variable steering allows exactly the right amount of turn at any speed, and everything is just so well-considered that driving it is a pleasure, in any circumstance. There’s a DSG gearbox and a Performance Pack which adds power and a fancy traction system but the standard manual and power output combination is just so sweet that you really don’t need to be greedy.

You can drive the GTI slowly quite happily and it’s clear a lot of time and money has been spent on the suspension because it rides fantastically well over rough surfaces, which means that long distances are not the chore you think they might be. The quality can be felt, as well as touched.

Efficient, fast, classy and perfectly produced: it’s time the Golf GTI was back as the king of the perk cars.