Manufacturers continue to stretch a point with new city cars, with many of them dangerously close to spilling over into the supermini bracket.

The Volkswagen Fox is a fine example of the less-is-more philosophy - it makes predecessor, the Lupo, look as if it never quite grew up, and is only a middle-finger length shorter than the firm's classy supermini, the Polo.

The Fox hatchback, one of the better choices in this diminutive class, comes in three-door form only, but there are four generous seats in there, plus a boot of sensible size.

Launched in Britain only a few weeks ago, the Fox city car is already doing good business - VW aims to sell 9,000 a year here - and is surely benefiting from the trading-down that's going on in the market right now, with buyers turning to smaller motors to stave off rising running costs.

This is also the end of the market where young motorists often make their first purchase, and to many the Fox will be seen as a fine buy. It's solid, sensible, easy to drive and safe, too, and has lengthy (12,000-miles or a year) service intervals.

Okay, so VW hasn't pandered to the current trend of going for a fun and funky interior - other than fairly staid striped seat centre-panel inserts - but the plain, albeit functional, interior won't hamper the upward progress of the sales chart graph one bit.

The price is right for success - the four-strong range comes in at £6,590 - and trim levels number just two, Fox and Urban Fox.

As with quite a few cars in the city segment, engine offerings - again, two - are petrol only. But they're as lean and green as any small diesel, and the smallest VW Fox choice, the 1.2 litre, is going to be the most popular buy.

It's a three-cylinder unit, developing 54bhp to produce a top speed of 92mph - more than adequate for the compact Fox. The 0 to 62mph time of the 1198cc version is 17.5 seconds, and its the well-spaced five manual gears that help further boost the car's sound economy - it's 46.3mpg on the combined cycle.

A preference for the four-cylinder 1390cc would bring 41.5mpg on the combined cycle, and a top speed of 104mph. But that would also move the car up from an ultra-low 1E insurance group to 2, a small step that could make a big difference to a young, budget-conscious driver.

Trialled here was the 1.2 Urban Fox, costing £7,190, and it proved to be a pleasant, satisfying car. You can't thrash it, so it does nothing wrong, and it is equipped to deal with all age groups.

There's full-width storage on the dash top, seat height adjustment for the driver, a sliding rear bench seat to increase the rear load area, front electric windows, and lots of other little comforts, such as easy-entry rear seats, to make it all work together quite well. The only paid add-on was semi-automatic aircon, adding £945 to the bill.

The only minor disappointment - given VW's reputation for mechanical reliability - is the warranty.

The German giant needs to make a greater commitment to buyers by raising the 60,000 mile cover over three years to 100,000 - that would bring far more peace of mind to the non-stop lives of today's under-25s.

More details from www.volkswagen.co.uk.

PRICE: Range 1.2 (£6,590) to 1.4 Urban (£7,995).

ENGINE: 1198cc, 54bhp three cylinder engine.

PERFORMANCE: Top speed 92mph, 0-62mph in 17.5 seconds.

EMISSIONS: 146g per km C02 emissions.

WARRANTY: three years/60,000 miles.

INSURANCE: Group 1.

All T&A road test vehicles are independently selected and assessments are carried out impartially by members of our own staff who base their opinions only on the vehicle supplied for these purposes by the manufacturer.