Its natural competitors include the Citroen C4 Picasso and Renault Scenic. As you can see from the ‘rivals’ box below, the Scenic is just 0.1ppm more to run, but we didn’t include the C4 Picasso because Citroen only produces the 2.0-litre diesel version with a semi-automatic gearbox. This makes the C4 Picasso significantly more expensive than its rivals at £21,050 for the top spec Exclusive model. That’s nearly £1500 more than the top spec C-max Titanium with a 2.0-litre diesel engine (although the C-max is beaten on equipment levels). The end result is a 33ppm figure for the Citroen.

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Interestingly, it’s the rivals that approach the five-seat Mini-MPV sector from a slightly different angle that win through on costs. The Seat Altea and the Nissan Qashqai, both aimed at covering off a portion of the regular hatchback market as well as playing mini-MPV, both have a cost per mile figure of 30p. However, we selected the Qashqai as ‘our pick’ because of its lower depreciation figure and lower lease rate, although you’d forgive drivers for picking the Altea for its lower taxation and better fuel consumption.

The C-max may be the most fun to drive of the min-MPV bunch, but it lags its competitive new rivals encroaching from other sectors on costs.

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