VOLVO EX30

Early signs are that our car will fully live up to its billing as our Small Premium SUV of the Year

- ANDY PRINGLE

I'M not a man who enjoys a gamble, especially when it comes to cars. But I have no worries about my next family workhorse, because picking a Volvo for the job is surely about as safe as bets get.

Especially when the model in question has not only an Auto Express award to its name, but also a five-star safety rating from the Euro NCAP crash-test body.

That's the impressive double whammy that the EX30 has achieved in the past 12 months, with Volvo's own website seemingly as happy to display the car's Small Premium SUV of the Year Award as I am to park the winner outside my house.

I picked the car up from Volvo Cars Leatherhead in Surrey, and although the EX30 is the smallest and cheapest model in the company's current line-up, I certainly didn't feel I was being denied the full Volvo experience. On the contrary, the EX30 looked perfectly at home alongside much more expensive EX40s and EX90s.