When Fiat first planned the new Panda for Ireland, they didn’t intend to bring in the Multijet diesel, partly because of some fear that it would affect the Punto too much, and partly because no decision to sell it in Britain had been taken.

Fortunately all that changed when the British distributors did decide in fact to bring the state-of-the-art oilburner version of Fiats fresh little car. And so it will be here sometime early next year.

Some of us have had a chance to evaluate the Multijet, and for my part I’m dead impressed. As I have already reported that I am with the overall car that is perhaps going to underpin a long-awaited renaissance for a troubled car firm.

You have to credit them: they’ve just not given in to adversity. Times are tough, but Fiat have kept on designing well, innovating, and improving product lines.

And even admitting when they’ve pushed the envelope out too far, such as with the Multipla, and great drive but a face that is just too hard to live with. So in its latest incarnation they’ve given it a much smarter new face.

But the new Panda is a completely new car, of course, and they could do what they liked in terms of styling, sizing, and specification.

The cheeky looks absolutely beg attention. In an era of rather bland small car design, the Panda is absolutely distinctive, has SUV-type detailing that wouldn’t be out of place on a top-of-the-range large people-carrier, and even in bog-standard form has more than a hint of sportiness about it.

Styling elements that I particularly like include the rear quarter lights, square against the other window curves of the side profile and leading the eye from curves to the straight-up back very cleverly.

There’s a grin about the front, where the look also oozes self-assurance. And the tall lights stacks at the rear say the same thing: I’m here and I’m not afraid to be seen.

The black roof rails set the whole car off nicely too, and if you go for the panoramic sunroof you’ll have Mediterranean airiness even on an Irish cool day.

The dashboard and interior have a level of quality that Fiat’s other small cars haven’t yet reached, and that cheeriness of the outside is again mirrored here. The centre stack which has the radio controls easily to hand at the top also comes forward at the bottom to support the stubby gearshift. But continuing that structure to the floor in a ‘tower’ idea seems to me to have wasted space that could have provided extra small storage places.

The seats proved much more comfortable than might have been expected in a small and relatively inexpensive car, and though it is hard to decide on some things when running around even on Irish roads in a LHD version, the driving position and supportive seatbacks definitely indicated that a long run would be no hardship. Even though the Panda is promoted primarily as a city car.

The Multijet engine by now needs little explanation, other than to remind that it uses the ‘next level’ of electronic metering and control to make the common-rail diesel engine even smoother, more powerful, and cleaner.

Its weight is also just as important as any other aspect of it, weighing in as it does at less than 130 kg and with a tiny bulk that allows it migrate to small cars without upsetting the handling dynamics.

It is hard enough to tell that this little diesel is an oil burner when the car is idling, and on the road it has low-rev driving characteristics which bring the 145 Nm of torque on full pull at just 1,500 rpm. This makes the little car a joy to potter around in the suburbs, and easy in the more congested city, because there’s no need to keep rowing the shifter around.

There’s a slightly wooly feel about the initial power take-up, but it proves to be more impression than fact, and when asked to exploit an unexpected lane opening, the Panda Multijet can be flicked into place without any lag. 0-100 km/h is some 13 seconds, respectable.

It is an engine that will last and last and last, we are assured. Oil change intervals are up to 30,000 km, and no service to mechanical parts is dictated.

No price has been given yet for the Multijet engine Panda. But looking at the pricing structure of older brother Punto, it is not unreasonable to throw in an educated guess of around €14,000. But is there much point in paying the extra over the €11,000 basic 1.1 which already returns around 50mpg?

Well, yes, because on paper you’ll achieve better fuel consumption than even that by a factor of more than 30 per cent. So Panda Multijet is a car that sips gently on its journeys.

There are three levels of specification in New Panda in Ireland - Active, Dynamic and Emotion. All versions are equipped with driver and front passenger-airbags, and side airbags are optional with the 1.2-litre versions.

Welcome, little fella.