The Top Gear car review:Ford B-Max

Making practical variants of supermini-sized cars is big business nowadays: Nissan Note, Citroen C3 Picasso, Kia Venga – all take the bones of a small car and build it upwards to give it the flexibility of a much bigger car. Clever. And, what has Ford had to offer in this sector until this new Ford B-Max arrived? The dreadful Fusion.

Finally, though, Uncle Henry’s pulled his finger out and launched the Ford B-Max - what could actually be the smartest, most intelligent supermini-MPV this sector has yet seen. Not only is the Ford B-Max a ground-up design rather than a Fiesta with chunky wheelarches, it also has two firsts in this sector: twin sliding side doors and no central B-pillar. That’s right: open front doors and slide back rears, for an obstruction-free 1.5m-wide aperture on each side. And if that’s not enough to make you notice the Ford B-Max, we don’t know what is.

Ford hasn’t forgotten the rest of it, either. Like so many blue oval cars these days, it’s a neat-looking thing with lots of groovy surfacing in the side panels that make it less van-like than some in this sector. The all-new interior is also stylish, and can be packed with the on-board tech Ford is becoming known for over in the US.