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Fiat Bravo
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Fiat is on a roll, and business' love affair with the Italian brand is closer than its ever been to being rekindled.
Croma aside, Fiat offers talented products with low P11Ds and reasonable residuals, from the cutesy city-slicking Panda to the recent adorable Grande Punto.
It's love at first sight the first time you see the five-door only Bravo in the flesh, and on paper things look even rosier, with two talented 1.9 diesels (120 and 150PS), a frugal 90PS 1.4 and a pair of cheeky turbocharged variants of the same output. All offer highly competitive fuel consumption and low emissions.
Kit count is high and safety equipment generous - expect NCAP to award the full five sparklers for occupant crash protection.
So could this be time to ditch the dowdy Ford for the fresh new Fiat with flair?
At the launch in Rome the head of Fiat proudly boasted that just 18 months ago the Bravo was a mere sketch on a designer's notepad, but thanks to all-new virtual engineering the new car was developed far quicker and cheaper than the conventional 'real' prototype route.
At this point, fears began to creep in. Would the new Bravo be as appetising on the road as its looks, or simply amount to something half-baked - a classic case of style without substance?
Sadly, in our very first brief experience with the car, we'll have to side with the latter.
Following on from the enjoyable drive offered by the Grande Punto, we expected much from its bigger brother, but came away disappointed.
Following the briefest drive on limited bumpy roads the Bravo didn't give anything for the Focus to worry about. Low speed ride felt fine, soaking up potholes with ease, but up the pace and expansion joints and bumps are dealt with little sophistication, with the Fiat's ride never settling. Through the odd corners we came across, steering lacked feel, blunting Bravo's handling - not a good sign for the UK's lunar-like road surfaces.
A fingertip search also revealed hard and cheap-feeling plastic, with a mismatch of materials, colour and textures, and everything looks and feels less well thought out than the opposition. A clear attractive speedo and revcounter is ruined by a fussy and busy trip info.
Costs will be announced closer to the June launch and they will need to be highly competitive, since business money is rarely spent on a stylish whim.
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