It’s amazing what rising petroleum prices can do. Throw in crowded city streets, congestion charges, differential taxing policies, tax rebates for small dimensions with small engines and you end up with the inevitable – small cars. Now, while there are many millions around the globe content with Maruti Swifts and Hyundai i10s, there are plenty still who want some more: some more style, some more features, some more badge snobbery.

It is to this discerning lot that luxury car manufacturers have turned their attention. Chic retro revivals notwithstanding, in the form of MINI, Fiat 500 and VW Beetle, we now have something, um, a little more ‘regular’. Enter the Mercedes A-Class, BMW 1 Series and Audi A1.

Read more