It’s the new Vauxhall Viva!

This is the new Vauxhall Viva. No, really, it's the new Viva, Vaux's latest budget city car offering to sit below the Adam and Corsa.

To those of a certain vintage, then, this news will come as a surprise; the original Viva don't forget, was rather larger, and a bit of a classic.

Either way, this new one is designed for ‘modern, everyday life' (as opposed to, um...), and as TG's Paul Horrell correctly forecasted for you earlier this year, will sit on GM's global baby-car platform.

It'll be powered by the same three-pot 1.0-litre petrol engine found in the Adam and new Corsa, developing 74bhp in this iteration. This engine will, of course, drive the front wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox.

We're told the chassis and steering have been engineered for ‘safety and class-leading comfort', while the exterior gets Vauxhall's ‘blade' side design (as seen on the Insignia and Astra GTC), a winged chrome bar up front and huge head- and tail- lights.

There'll be all manner of gadgetry for the yoof', including the ability to sync with Apple and Android operating systems. Then there's ESP, ABS, hill start assist and even the option of lane departure warning.

Push a button, and the steering will get even lighter to assist you while parking. Tick the right option boxes, and this steering wheel can be heated, too.

If you're trying to work out where the Viva slots into Vauxhall's busy small-car line-up, think of it as the firm's answer to Fiat's Panda: simple and utilitarian against the more modish Adam. Which, in this comparison, is the 500. Did that make any sense at all?

"On sale next year at an extremely attractive price point, Viva joins new Corsa and Adam in a compelling small car portfolio," explains Vauxhall's Tim Tozer, who earlier this year promised us his firm would ‘give Ford a bloody good run for their money in small cars'. That's fighting talk, there.

No word on that attractive price point, but it'll be cheaper than the Corsa, so expect around or just under £9k. Reckon this'll have the smarts to take on the TG Award-winning Renault Twingo?