Vauxhall Astra Hatchback White

Vauxhall has traditionally positioned itself as a no-frills, high volume brand and the new Astra maintains that ethos but with a new-found sense of style as well. The range has been simplified to just a sixth of the confusing 90-plus options you had with the previous model, pricing reasonable and increasing respectively depending on whether you pick the petrol, diesel or hybrid engine option. The latter is considerably more expensive to buy upfront but Vauxhall reckons you’ll get that back in cheaper running costs, especially if you’re a company driver where Benefit In Kind comes in at around a third of what you’ll pay for a petrol or diesel. Private owners looking to realise the real benefits of hybrid ownership will have to factor in facility to plug in at home and perhaps consider ticking the box for the faster onboard charging option, so there may be some additional upfront costs to factor in here. More generally the market also seems to like the more straightforward range structure and residual values have jumped considerably over the previous model, which will help Vauxhall deliver competitive monthly finance deals.