The Skoda Kylaq is a shiny new small car that costs £7k…

This is the new Skoda Kylaq, a relatively tiny car that’s marginally shorter than a Ford Fiesta and is being offered in its home market for the equivalent of just over £7k. That’s ludicrous value for a handsome, well-equipped motor car.

There are of course, a few important caveats. Like the fact that in its home market it costs 789,000 Indian Rupees. And that its home market is in fact, India, and not Everywhere. Shame. Looks cooler than a Fabia.

It’s Skoda’s first ‘SUV’ that measures in at less than 4m long; a size that makes up 50 per cent of all new car sales in India. Platform enthusiasts will be delighted to discover it sits on an India-specific version of the same Volkswagen base that underpins stuff like the Fabia and Polo and A1.

So it’s a bit shorter, a bit taller and a wee bit wider than that Fiesta, featuring a 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine with 114bhp and 131lb ft of torque. That’s posted to the front wheels via a choice of a six-speed manual, or an auto ‘box.

In the former, that means 0-62mph in 10.5s and a 117mph top speed. Neither of which you will be troubling in a city. Instead, you’ll be pootling along in a handsome small car – Skoda’s ‘Modern Solid’ design language – featuring slim, only slightly suspicious headlights, simple, uncomplicated lines, and a good stance.

Good level of standard equipment, too. There are 25 active and passive safety features, including all your favourite hits: six airbags, rollover protection, an electronic diff, stability control, cornering lights, hill hold and even tyre pressure monitoring.

Inside, you’re greeted by six-way adjustable electric seats that are vented up front - vented seats in a budget Skoda! – a sunroof (on some versions), and cruise control.

Then comes the obligatory Big Touchy Screen, here a 10.1in unit that’ll connect to your Android or Apple phone and possibly drive you a bit mad. Another 8in digital display sits in front of the driver, while elsewhere there’s a boot-load of Skoda’s sensibleness: coat hooks, a ticket holder, bottle holders, that sort of thing. Speaking of the boot, it offers 446 litres with the rear seats up, or 1,265 litres with them folded down.

“At a very competitive starting price of INR 789,000, the Kylaq is the most accessible Škoda model in India,” said Skoda boss Klaus Zellmer. Would you rather have this over a Fabia over here?