The first and lasting impression of the new Seat Ibiza is that it’s bigger than a supermini.

Whatever your argument about growing cars, the debate is nullified by the price: if you’re paying supermini prices for a car that looks and feels bigger than a supermini, then hurrah.

The Ibiza won’t be the cheapest in class when it goes on sale in July (the unconfirmed prices run from £9000- £11,500), but RV expert Cap predicts that resale prices will be 15% better than the old one. So if that made £4000 after three years, then an equivalent new version would sell for £4600.

The big drawback in these CO2-obsessed times is the lack of an initial diesel.

The launch engines are 1.2, 1.4 and 1.6-litre petrols, with the sub-120g/km 1.9-litre TDI held back until 2009. That’s when we should also see the 1.4 TDI Ecomotive version with a similar 99g/km CO2 figure to the current model (which stays in production until the handover).

The Ibiza sticks with familiar VW Group units, with the 85PS 1.4 feeling lively enough without straying over the 150g/km CO2 barrier.

Despite measuring over four metres long, the Ibiza is actually…

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