The Austral is a medium-sized SUV with three trim levels but one power system, this being a 1.2-litre petrol hybrid. Although it?s not a plug-in hybrid (or PHEV in the jargon) the small engine packs a punch, and you get a surprisingly good amount of electric range. Great looking, with Google tech and some nifty storage, it is almost the perfect package, and a huge improvement on the outgoing Kadjar. All versions come with a head-up display, which is amazing. Lane keeping assistance is also standard, which some people like but we find intensely annoying on every single car out there on the basis it?s constantly ?correcting? your path even when you?re perfectly on track. Every owner also gets traffic-sign recognition and emergency braking. Adaptive cruise control, a 360-degree camera that includes a birds-eye view of the car and its surroundings, a blind-spot warning system and another that alerts you to traffic as you?re reversing onto a road, plus automatic hands-free parking, are all available. There?s even a rapid-access hatch for the battery and a QR code for the location pf the battery and airbags printed on the windscreen, so that emergency services can ascertain where they can and can?t cut the vehicle to get someone out of the wreckage, should the absolute worst happen. Blue, £26,500