BE there or be square; unless you have a small SUV in your company portfolio you stand to lose millions in profits as the world goes mad for these little bits of chunky car heaven.

Built like bulked up butch versions of a modest hatch, the small SUV carries over sensible running costs in a car that confers instant kudos at the school gates and uses its extra height to make everyone on board feel a little bit special.

In the process of adding kerbside appeal the small SUV inevitably loses a little of a small hatch's on-road ability, but it's something you ought scarcely to notice in a good one. And anyway, they look great and go well enough, thank you.

Mazda's entry to the small SUV world is the CX-3 and it looks a belter, with the sharp lines of all recent cars from this maker, seeming to have been styled by a sword wielding designer slashing pieces off a full scale clay model.

That's a compliment by the way, with the CX-3 easily holding its handsome head up in the company of rivals like the Vauxhall Mokka, MINI Cooper Countryman, Nissan Juke and (perhaps especially) the Ford EcoSport.

So it's a looker. Dig deeper and you find more reasons to put a CX-3 on your shopping list, starting with Mazda's approach to economy, which uses bigger diesel and petrol engines than rivals but employs clever technology to produce real world frugality.

There is a choice of 11 petrol and seven diesel models with prices ranging from £17,595 for the least powerful petrol version to £24,695 for a strong limbed diesel with satellite navigation and all-wheel drive.

Mazda, with disarming modesty, says simple comparisons make it look as though the CX-3 is pricey against some of the opposition, but insists things more than balance out when you see what you get for your money.

For instance, every CX-3 has a seven inch touchscreen, heated and power folding door mirrors, DAB radio, Bluetooth, alloy wheels, multifunction steering wheel, cruise control and safety systems.

Move from SE to the SE-L Nav grade of the test car (£20,995) and, unsurprisingly, you find satellite navigation with three years free map updates, rear parking sensors, climate control, heated front seats, auto lights and wipers and city brake supports that intervenes if it senses your attention is elsewhere at a critical moment.

The cabin looks well made in Mazda's mildly minimalist manner, banishing most old fashioned knobs to the touchscreen and using lots of black and interesting textures to keep things modern.

Pay an extra £660 and your CX-3 can arrive in soul red metallic, to these eyes the smartest colour on the roads at the moment.

Sitting at the wheel you won't notice the exterior paintwork, more important are the clear instruments and mildly elevated view of the road ahead.

If the 118bhp 1.5 litre diesel is doing the work you will enjoy plenty of performance with only an odd and distant whistle from the turbocharger to disturb your peace on smoother roads. The 107mph top speed was not approached, nor the 10.5 seconds quoted for the dash to 62mph, but it felt fast enough.

Trying very hard on some gorgeous northern England roads the car showed 56mpg - an impressive result. Next time, with a lighter right foot, that became an outstanding 64mpg, even if the officially quoted 70.6mpg remained elusive, as ever. Emissions of 105g/km will keep the tax bill down too.

A 2.0 petrol CX-3 (148bhp, 44.1mpg, 150g/km) felt faster and lighter on its feet, while having the same moderately disturbed feel on less than perfect surfaces and returned 36mpg in a hour's very committed motoring over some open roads of the moorland north.

I'd take the diesel and enjoy a car that looks the business, is a decent drive and promises to make trips to the pumps a deliciously rare event.