HOW new would you like your new car to be? Not such a daft question when it's the smallest Hyundai you're talking about.

Because the i10 hatchback you see here is not being built any more. It has, as Monty Python might have said, ceased to be, or joined the choir invisible.

Come the early new year we'll be able to drive away in a new version, looking similar (but wider, lower and a little longer) and roomier inside and available with lots of kit you couldn't specify on the old one.

There's an eight inch touchscreen, clever safety features and a fancy infotainment system, for starters. Oh, and a likely price rise too.

Hyundai's isn't saying just yet what the new i10 will cost but an informed guess says around £2,000 more than the old one; so from about £11,000.

Which is where you may have to decide if you'd be happy with the old one and a few grand in the bank.

And don't forget; the former version's public death knell ought to find Hyundai dealers happy to shift any stock they've got, to free space to let the new baby take centre stage.

You might then take a look at specific version of the i10, badged i10 PLAY and given a whiff of extra style and equipment to make you feel a bit special at the wheel, for your £11,195 outlay, before bargaining begins (or £2,800 deposit and £130 a month for two years on a PCP deal).

Along with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (keeping you connected to your phone and music collection), there's a clear and easy to use sat nav system, 15in alloy wheels, leather wrapped steering wheel and gear knob, black gloss door mirrors and darkened privacy glass on rear windows and tailgate.

It all sounds like quite a grown up little 'un, even if there's no hiding the car's modest dimensions on a bumpy road, when the suspension turns firm and lets you and your passengers know about the poor surface beneath them.

You might also miss a sixth gear on the motorway, although the engine never feels too strained to cope. The radio will need turning up a bit at the legal limit but this is a car to cope with hundreds of miles a day and not complain.

There's room up front for two grown-ups to sit in comfort and space in the back for their clones if they can persuade the front seat set to push forward a little.

A Bentley driver (or Focus, come to that) will notice the swathes of hard plastic covering the dash but it's all feels put together well enough never to trouble the car's five year, unlimited mileage warranty.

You might also find that a 58.5mpg readout on the trip computer compensates for a relative lack of performance and the feeling that here is a car that's deliberately anything but sporty.