Last year, the Ford Focus 2.0 TDCi was our class champion. This year it’s back to defend that title, but in the form of the 1.6 TDCi Econetic, the greenest model in the line-up.

By now you’ll have realised the Focus hasn’t notched up another class win. That’s in no small part due to a poor performance in the hill-start test. However hard our judges pulled on the handbrake, it refused to hold car and caravan still on the 1-in-6 slope. Once under way, the engine had its work cut out pulling the outfit to the top of the hill cleanly.

It might be economical – official figures promise 65.7mpg on the combined cycle – but it is also slow. The Focus took 19.7 seconds to go from 30-60mph.

On the other hand, the Ford was every bit as assured as the Golf through the lane-change test. In a straight line it felt unshakeable up to the legal limit and beyond.

Without the burden of a caravan in tow, the Focus is sharp and responsive to drive, and proves that green cars don’t have to be dull. It’s spacious, too.

However, some inadequate towing information in the handbook contributed to a poor score for practicality.