Let's face it, in the compact MPV stakes there hasn't been any real competition for the segment originator Renault Scenic and the next up Opel Zafira.

Not before now, anyway. But all is changed, changed utterly.

VW's Touran is here. And so too, perhaps more importantly, is Ford's C-MAX, built on the new C-segment platform that already carries the Mazda3 and will underpin the upcoming new Volvo S40 and V50, as well as the next Focus.

The Touran I haven't driven. Stylewise from the pictures, it doesn't turn me on. But colleague John Reilly, whose opinion I deeply respect, has been impressed, despite its 'bread-van' looks.

I HAVE driven the C-MAX. Abroad, and more recently in Ireland. And, bluntly, it is the one which I believe poses the biggest threat to both the Scenic and the Zafira. Particularly the latter because it is still in its first generation, though until the Grand Scenic II arrives in March or April, it is still the only 7-seat compact MPV on the market.

The C-MAX will never be a 5-seater. Ford believes that this is not its market. Understandably, as they have a comfortable lead in the 7-seat business anyway with the Galaxy full-size MPV.

Now watch them move with the C-MAX. Customers are already moving with them. Retail sources tell me they can't get enough to meet the demand already. Especially the 1.6-litre diesel which is the subject of this piece.

So let's start there. The 1.6 diesel is the latest to be released from a joint development programme between master diesel-makers Peugeot-Citroen PSA and Ford. It follows the 1.4 TDCi already familiar in the Fiesta/Fusion and the PSA C3s and 307s.

And I'm telling you now, it is a sweet engine. And a sweet size. And, for the Irish market, probably the best of the options in the powertrain range.

So, that out of the way, what about the car it powers? Hmm, well, it is not going to cause Ford any headaches apart from trying to supply enough for the demand.

Unlike the Volkswagen newcomer, the C-MAX has a sense of style. Maybe not as strongly as the Scenic II, but nevertheless it is good-looking in a rather understated kind of way. There might be a small aesthetic concern about the droop of the rear roofline, but at the same time that feature does eliminate the usual boxy look of MPVs, making the car look more like an estate.

The C-MAX, being the precursor of the next Focus, is also telling us that that upcoming car won't be as radical as the nameplate was when it came out first.

That's clear from the interior too. The dashboard shape has none of the loops and whorls of the current Focus. The instrumentation is also classically simple and well graphiced.

And, as I probably mentioned when I first drove this car last year at the international launch, it impresses in the quality of the materials used and the overall sense of strength conveyed when motoring along, or when closing the doors. Thunk instead of tinnggg, if you understand.

There's also a tremendous feeling of stability on the road. Though the C-MAX is an MPV, it benefits from a relatively low height and its underpinning architecture in providing true 'car' driving characteristics.

The driving position helps. It is highish, but not 'sit up and beg'. Allied with a steering wheel that can be very flexibly positioned and the gearshift sprouting from a central extension to the dashboard that keeps it neatly close to the left hand, maneuvering in close traffic is no hardship at all.

Accommodation in the back is as good as any in the class, and in the current way of things, the central rear seat (admittedly narrower than the outer ones) can be flipped over to provide a good solid table with cup inserts, or shifted another way to allow the outer seats be brought inwards and backwards so the car becomes a 4-seater with good elbow room for the rear passengers.

Boot space is good, and the back seats also flip and tilt to give even more. It truly can be said that the era of the multi-purpose-vehicle has matured following the Scenic/Zafira innovation. Funny thing is, the trend hasn't actually replaced anything: there will be, for instance, an actual Focus Wagon in the coming generation as there is in the outgoing model. So we customers have a much greater choice.

As I said at the beginning, the 1.6-litre diesel is a sweet thing, and well capable of pulling the C-MAX and a fair load without hurting either the powertrain or the driver's state of mind. Over my time with the car, which didn't involve any good long-distance runs, unfortunately, it returned in excess of 40mpg.

And because of the kind of use which such MPVs are put to, it is the kind of engine that suits very well, torquey at low revs, not large in tax band terms, and very friendly to the environment.

We have become a lifestyle nation in a very 21st century manner. The Focus C-MAX could well be the style for your current life.

Try it, if your dealer can scrounge an unsold demonstrator to let you out in.