We review the Vauxhall Astra from price to economy and all its features

The current model is good – but not quite good enough to beat either the Ford Focus or the VW Golf at the top of the family hatchback class.

So can it be different this time? Have Vauxhall produced a car that can actually be the Number One?

THE Astra has always been the challenger, never the champ.

Well, it gets off to a flyer because the first thing that strikes you about the new Astra is just how great it looks.

It makes the Focus and Golf look a bit conservative and boasts a road presence few Vauxhalls have matched.

It gets a more steeply raked windscreen and a side profile that highlights the sloping rear roof line, flared wheel arches and the “reverse” blade line feature that cuts into the rear door.

But it’s the curvy rear view that is the most dramatic, with its distinctive tail lights that give it a very individual look.

The Astra looks more like a premium hatchback you’d expect from one of the German executive brands. It’s the same on the inside, where owners will experience a big leap up the quality ladder.

Considering the car I was driving was a pre-production model, the standard of the fit and finish of the materials was close to a VW Golf.

But it’s the sporty, flowing lines of the cabin that wraps around the driver, particularly the deep-set main instrument panels and the sloping centre console, that make the Astra feel a class above.

Vauxhall have also gone to great lengths to upgrade the quality of the fabrics and there is more space inside.