THE Cactus represents a new beginning for Citroen. It's quirky, fun to drive, interesting to look at, lightweight, cost-effective and, above all, priced to sell.

In future all Citroens will be made this way.

Why the change of direction?

Because ever since the 'car-as-white-goods' nadir that was the Citroen Saxo, the French marque has been moving steadily upmarket.

Unfortunately that has taken Citroen into direct competition with its sister company Peugeot. As a result, new Peugeots and Citroens have found themselves occupying the same space in the market and fighting over the same customers.

Fed-up with losing business to each other management has mapped out a new strategy: Peugeot will become the posh brand, the DS badge will be spun off into a premium/sporty sub-brand and Citroen will become the value proposition.

If this sounds like a return to the bad old days of Saxos and Xaras - two models that had all the excitement of boiled potatoes - then think again. The Cactus is bursting with Gallic goodness and its quirky charm successfully disguises many of the areas where costs have been cut.

ON THE ROAD: By far the most controversial visual feature of the Cactus are the 'airbumps' - air-filled thermoplastic polyurethane capsules designed to protect against minor bumps and scrapes - which are attached to the doors.

All versions are fitted with black airbumps as standard but three alternative hues - Stone Grey, Dune and Chocolate - are available depending on body colour.

You either love this idea or hate it. Everyone who laid eyes on the Cactus had an opinion about the airbumps, but no one could deny they are functional - although it's still possible to pick up the odd scratch because they don't run the full length of the doors.

Bigger than a Juke but smaller than a Qashqai, the Cactus is excellent value-for-money. The cheapest PureTech 75 model costs just £12,990 - £600 less than the entry level Juke and more than five grand cheaper than a Qashqai.

Although it's called the C4 Cactus that's just marketing-speak. It actually sits on a stretched version of the smaller C3 platform - the same architecture that also underpins the DS3 hot hatch - which has had a substantial 130mm added between the front and back wheels.

The longer wheelbase makes the Cactus more stable, particularly in cross winds, and easier to handle at high speed.

It drives rather well for a crossover but there's more lean than you'd expect to find in a Golf. Like many French cars, it doesn't pay to hurry the Cactus. The ride is comfortable, particularly in town where the soft suspension soothes your way over bumps and pot holes, and the car rewards a laid-back driving style.

ON THE INSIDE: Citroen has concentrated on decluttering the interior - removing switches and knobs and replacing them with a large touch-sensitive colour screen.

But grouping the audio and climate controls together reduces the visual jumble at a cost. Doing something simple, like adjusting the temperature or selecting a different radio station, requires the driver to drill down through on-screen menus. On the move, you can control the infotainment via the steering wheel but the air con remains a finger-stabbing chew on.

The instruments, too, have been decluttered. The C3's classy analogue clocks have been replaced by a Lego brick-like LCD digital speedo. There's no rev counter, so you have to guess at your change-up points by listening to the engine, and no temperature gauge.

Citroen has used expensive soft-feel plastic sparingly but canny design cleverly disguises some of the cheaper materials. Moving the passenger airbag into the roof has created an enormous top loading glove compartment and the door pulls have been inspired by the leather straps of an expensive suitcase.

The rear windows don't wind down, just pop open like those in a Citroen C1, but what could be seen as a drawback is actually quite handy if you have young kids. My little terrors used to wind down the windows on my wife's car just as she pulled into the drive - leading to puddles of water on the back seats if it rained overnight. If I can't have electric windows (with back seat switches that can be isolated) I'll take the pop out windows over manual winders any day.

The Catctus's stretched C3 wheelbase creates more room in the cabin but the car's Achilles heel is its width, which remains the same as the C3. Taller passengers may find themselves locking elbows on the back seat.

WHAT DO YOU GET?

The 7-inch touch screen is fitted as standard and controls the air conditioning, DAB radio, audio streaming, mobile connections, driving aids, sat nav (where fitted), telephone and connected services. For ease of selection there are shortcuts on either side of the main screen.

Citroen has incorporated the windscreen washer jets into the wiper blades (an old Peugeot trick that owners of the 405 may remember) to prevent overspray and reduce screen wash consumption.

HOW PRACTICAL IS IT?

Form and function blend seamlessly inside. The doors feature large storage bins - big enough for two 1.5 litre bottles of Evian - and the glove compartment is huge. Out back the boot is a generous 358-litre capacity expandable to 1,170-litres with the rear seat folded. In the interests of cost cutting the rear seat backrest doesn't split, however, and the boot's load lip is rather high.

RUNNING COSTS Using the C3 platform, making the bonnet from aluminium and junking unnecessary equipment makes the Cactus a lightweight among modern family cars. Tipping the scales at just 965kg, the Cactus is an impressive 200kg lighter than the equivalent C4.

The diet allowed Citroen to use smaller engines without compromising driveability. As a result, all the diesel models are eligible for free road tax thanks to their sub 100g/km of CO2 figures. Unusually, there's also a petrol model (the Pure Tech 82) that sneaks beneath the 100g/km mark.

Citroen reckons the Cactus should be around 20 per cent cheaper to run than a conventional family hatch.

VERDICT: A bit like its prickly namesake, you'll either love the Cactus or loathe it.

Me? I loved it. It's great to see a mass market manufacturer stepping out of the mainstream and doing something genuinely different. If the Cactus is the beginning of a new era for Citroen the future looks very bright indeed.

SPEC: Engine: 1560cc, four cylinder, turbodiesel Max power: 100PS Max torque: 254Nm Top speed: 114mph 0-62mph: 10.7 seconds Av fuel consumption: 83.1mpg (official) CO2 emissions: 90g/km