The supermini segment is packed with options for buyers of new cars, but it's no longer sufficient for a car in this class to simply be small, frugal and well priced.
To make our top 10 list, a supermini needs to be so much more than a car that's capable of carrying a couple of adults, a couple of kids and a decent amount of luggage. It must be desirable, well equipped, decently spacious and pleasant to use and to spend time in and have a dynamic make-up that mixes drivability and ease of use with agility, comfort, verve and refinement.
Increasingly, superminis offer a level of quality, equipment, performance and usability that bears comparison with that of bigger five-door hatchbacks; and the best ones combine all that with the agility only a small, light car can offer.
So which supermini tops our list?
1. Seat Ibiza
Storming to the top of our supermini top 10 is the fifth-generation Seat Ibiza. The Spanish company went to great lengths to replace the decent fourth-generation Ibiza with a handsome hatchback that's backed by real substance. It was the first of the Volkswagen Group's latest breed of MQB-based small hatchbacks - and, to date, it remains the best.
Mimicking the bigger Seat Leon in many ways, the Ibiza is roomy, well equipped and much better finished than before. Combine that with its first-class on-road handling and refinement manners, its value-for-money position, its impressive equipment features and its youthful styling, and it all adds up to a class-leading proposition for us.
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