Kia Rio

Gone are the days when Kia sold low-cost cars. Nowadays, ‘value’ is the most important word, so a Rio won’t be the cheapest new small car you can buy. The diesel that so impressed us with its economy and CO2 figures at launch has since been dropped, but that fits with general industry trends towards smaller and more economical petrol engines in this sector of the market. The most advanced of those – the turbocharged 1.0-litre – will do mid-50s mpg according to its official combined figure but the rest of the range isn’t far behind either. When it comes to overall running costs, expect the Rio to be broadly similar to its main rivals in areas like depreciation, servicing and repair.