WITH the rest of the Volkswagen Group brands on lap two, Volkswagen themselves have just laced up their trainers and headed for the starting line.

Only now are customers being offered a compact VW SUV in the shape of the T-Roc, to compete for sales against the SEAT Ateca, Skoda Karoq and Audi Q2.

The latest VW challenger sits below the Tiguan in the range, their only other current SUV being the rather larger Touareg. But it’s the start of a major push by the German brand with the Tiguan Allspace due next year, followed by the T-Cross Polo sized crossover.

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KIA have pulled off something of a coup with their new small SUV – they’ve designed it in Europe for sale here, but it’s gone down so well back home the Koreans are getting it too.

And while they’re not expecting super-Stonic sales, as this is a rapidly growing and well contested sector of the market, they expect to sell up to 15,000 here in the UK.

Given the way people have been queueing for the bigger Sportage at dealerships, that could turn out to be an under-estimation.

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VAUXHALL really are going for the X factor with their latest models to hit the market.

Hot on the wheels of the all wheel drive Mokka X comes the Crossland X – more compact and bijoux, looking a bit like a fatter and pumped up Adam because it shares that floating roofline from the small hatchback.

But Crossland is pure SUV, albeit on the smaller end of the spectrum, easily picked out by its two tone paintwork and styling.

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SPANDAU Ballet gave us Communication back in the heady 70s – and now another well known German name is giving it a new slant.

The accent in Volkswagen’s latest incarnation of the multi million selling Golf is very much on communication – ironically at a time when motorists are being urged to abandon our mobile phones on the move (which is a pretty stupid thing to do in any event) and concentrate fully on being the nut behind the wheel.

The 2017 Golf, with its new engines, new technology and revised styling – though it still looks very much like a Golf – is on average around £650 cheaper than the model it replaces.

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IF we were to indulge in a game of ‘Spot the Difference’ we could safely use the SEAT Leon as the subject matter.

I’ve looked long and hard, underneath and inside out, and bearing in mind the fact I’ve owned one for the past three years, I can’t for the life of me find too much has visibly changed with the Leon, 2017 version.

And why should it? No one ever attempted to reinvent the wheel, so when you’ve got a package that is to all intents and purposes one of the best medium hatches out there, you’d be a fool to invoke widespread changes just for the hell of it.

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VOLVO’S growing reputation for buliding fine cars means that radar screens in all sectors are lighting up to their presence.

And none more so than in the big executive saloon class, where their latest S90 lays its cards firmly on the boardroom table as a viable alternative to the BMWs, Audis and Mercs that have occupied the prima parking spaces in the corporate car park for quite some time.

S90 is a replacement for the ageing S80, but there are few similarities, the newcomer being a very significant leap forward in terms of quality.

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HATS off to Kia – they’ve taken a long hard look at what fits the bill over here, gone away and, like the Koreans have done with the mobile phone industry, cloned the best.

So now, as well as a pretty decent all round range of cars, they’ve added a newie to the list – their first estate version.

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IT’S Kia’s first ever UK market hybrid car and they’ve found a simple way to make it appeal to the British motorist – a heated steering wheel.

And purely by coincidence, the arrival’s of the Korean manufacturer’s latest offering saw the first really cold days of winter, giving us the chance to sample it at first hand(!).

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RENAULT’S Scenic was the car that, back in the 1990s, invented a class of car that has captured the hearts and wallets of the motoring public.

And now it’s got a lot more scenic – its new for 2017 distinctive profile has given it a much needed boost in a sector where there are a lot of similar machines vying for attention.

With the C segment mopping up one million sales across Europe each year, it’s a race you’ve got to be in.

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ONLY a fool would rip apart a winning combination – and Audi on past performances aren’t about to do that.

And so we have in front of us today the 2016 incarnation of a vehicle that carried the tag of being the first true premium product in the compact class.

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