A sports-utility vehicle with three or five doors and clean lines, HR-V is marketed by Honda as Joy Machine; this translates better in Japan than it will in Europe, in which the idea of joy means something quite different.

Regardless, HR-V owners really are a satisfied bunch, appreciating the car’s capability to switch seamlessly from the normal front wheel drive to 4×4, the vehicle sensing for itself once the extra traction is needed.

A range of two 1600cc petrol engines emerges (no diesel yet, but maybe once the next generation arrives) neither which offer earth-shattering performance but each of which are adequate for the market slot occupied through the car.