The hotly contested Soft Roader class has a leader in the Nissan Juke. Its cute and the latest versions are more economical. Not to be outdone, Peugeot introduced the 2008, even more economical than the Juke, but not as cute.
A possible contender in the market is the heavily marketed and loved by Top Gear, Skoda Yeti. We run one ourselves and agree that the build quality and the drive are way beyond the price point of this vehicle, but in this class it is a little bigger than the others.
Enter the Renault Captur, launching any time now to the UK market, based on the Clio, a known and well sorted chassis that was developed on the bumpy French roads with the benefit now of Nissan technical input. It is as cute as any of the rivals and has been priced below them including great spec.
The Captur is stable to drive, with light and easy steering. It has light but balanced steering so its great around town. But it will happily drive all day long at 70mph.
At something around 70mpg and better, the Captur will hit its target audience of private buyers on school runs and personal car leasing, who will love the emissions and consumption figures.
The Captur has more room in the rear and a larger boot than that of its main rival the Juke. At this price and spec the Captur will be a success.