THERE'S a lot to be said for Toyota's hybrid version of the latest Auris - and it's not all about fuel saving.

Ignoring its green credentials for a moment this family friendly hatchback also scores highly in the design stakes, both externally and internally.

The sleek, five-seater hatchback has a new, swept-back aerodynamic face in line with the rest of the Toyota family, with the new headlights incorporating LED daytime running lights.

The car is longer and lower than the model it replaces but the cabin maintains an upright design, so despite its sleeker look there is still an abundance of headroom for passengers.

The all-new interior has more space, better comfort and a futuristic image, thanks to the tiny "Playstation-style" lever which replaces the normal gearshift.

There are just three positions for the easy-move lever; drive, reverse and neutral. Push the start button on the dashboard, put the car into drive and you hear -  nothing.

For like all hybrids the Auris starts off on electric power from its batteries rather than use the 1.8-litre petrol engine. This not only ensures that you are not polluting the environment but also that you are not using up any of the valuable petrol in the fuel tank.

And if you have a light right foot and are driving mainly in town or city it's amazing how long you can keep the car running solely on the battery power.

The Auris has a dashboard visual showing when you are running on electric only, the engine only or a combination of both. And if you are not careful it can become obsessive trying to keep it purely on electric.

When the engine does cut in or when you brake the battery is constantly being re-charged so for many city/town journeys - certainly at speeds below around 34 miles per hour - the Verso Hybrid will run almost entirely on electricity.

When you need to put your foot down hard for instant power or when on the motorway, however, you will always be running on traditional engine power and sometimes a combination of engine and electric motor, which gives a combined output of 134bhp.

Despite this the Auris is surprisingly frugal on petrol even on motorway runs, with consumption of around 50mpg easily attainable, so even if you do a lot of motorway driving this car - unlike some hybrids - is a viable proposition. And the bonus is that because the CO2 emissions on the Auris Hybrid are so low you don't have to pay any road tax.

Three buttons located near the transmission lever let you override the hybrid system, allowing you to switch to "power", "economy" or "ev" mode only, when the battery is fully charged.

But to be fair I found the car better left in its normal transmission mode to give good economy and, when power was needed, simply flooring the accelerator as in a traditional automatic.

In practice the Auris Hybrid is quite lively when you need the power, and the nice thing is it's a very light, easy car to drive thanks partly to the improved electric power steering.

And while this is not a sports car it handles superbly well, with no roll and excellent road holding.

By using lighter materials for the upper part of the body and by lowering the driving position the car now has a significantly lower centre of gravity compared to its predecessor and this has dramatically improved its handling and stability.

So now you can buy a hybrid for all the right reasons yet still have a car that's genuinely good fun to drive.