What are we looking at?
This is the Skoda Fabia Combi, an estate version of the third-generation B-segment hatch from the Czech Republic.
What's the best thing about it?
It features the same crisp styling as its (newly updated) hatchback brother, but now houses a back end that is 'class-leading' in terms of space, according to Skoda - 530 litres with the seats up (25 litres more than the old model) and a massive 1,395 litres with them folded down. This allows the Combi, on sale from January 2015, to carry items up to 1.55 metres long.
Skoda is also saying the car will come with 'state-of-the-art safety, comfort and infotainment systems from higher vehicle segments', including MirrorLink and SmartGate technology for pairing the car to a smartphone, while the engines comprise petrol units putting out between 75- and 110hp, and three-cylinder diesels producing anything from 75- to 105hp.
Show stopper or floor filler?
Probably filler. Nice as it is, people won't be flocking to the Skoda stand just to see a small estate car with an ice scraper fitted in the fuel filler flap as standard (no, really).