When launching a car into the hotly contested C segment in Europe, why would a modern manufacturer leave out both a hatchback and a diesel engine from the equation?

Mitsubishi knew we would ask the question when they showed off their latest Lancer last week. So they provided a preemptive answer.

One, they're not going to get into 'bloodbath' territory by spending heavily for volume in a segment where there are established big players. Two, they're targeting the car at specific markets, particularly the saloon at Russia. And three, the ninth generation Lancer is an interim car, essentially a cosmetic job on the platform, pending a completely new car in a few years.

Meantime, August will see the return of the Lancer name to Ireland, after a two-year absence from our market because at the time it was first launched, the yen/euro difference made it uneconomic for here.

That's changed now, and Mitsubishi Ireland will be glad to have a runner in Irelands's most important market, even if there be no hatch this time around.

It is, in fact, two distinct cars, and certainly the versions I drove in Finland last week were quite different in both feel and style. They served the really good wine first, the 2-litre wagon with a 'sport' pack that included lowered suspension, larger wheels, and some snazzier inside trimmings such as a sexy Momo steering wheel.

The front of the car has the road-going version of the new Mitsubishi 'family' look that was premiered in the 2001 CZ2 concept car. It IS very distinctive, and the trademark diamonds are made good use of. There is strong sculpting in the converging and diverging lines that could have gone awry, but I think it hasn't.

The back of the wagon is also very strong, and Mitsubishi seems to have avoided the current trend for very sleek rear ends. The vertical lights stacks sharpen it well, and though the feature is now common enough, the Lancer's treatment is distinctive.

The lowered suspension of the 'sporty' wagon also improves the stance and side view of the car. So, all in all, there's a thumbs up here.

The sedan (saloon) doesn't work quite as well from the rear. It betrays an older style thinking, from which most of the other cars of that side of the world have moved on. But it is inoffensive, and does give the advantage of a decent boot.

Inside there was a marked difference between the two levels of specification, and the steering wheel of the ordinary car is a fairly old-fashioned affair after the Momo of the wagon. The sportier treatment of the instruments in the higher-end car also spoiled us for the ordinary ones. Little things mean a lot when you're making a commitment to live in a car for three or four years.

But whichever seats I was in were very good, supportive and comfortable both for driver and passenger. There's also decent leg room for those in the back, and greater headroom than in the car we used to have in Ireland. In fact, there's pretty well as much room inside this Lancer as is in the Carisma, nominally a larger car, and due for phase out next year.

The driveabouts were on a mixture of mid-Finland roads, where tarmac often suddenly disappears to gravel for several kilometres, reportedly because different councils take different views on the value of any particular road as it passes through their authority areas.

But this has its upsides in that it provides the kind of driving experience which so many Finns have shown in rallying and racing. So, because the Mitsubishi Lancer has figured so much in wins of the famous 1,000 Lakes rally over the years, it was where the company decided to relaunch Lancer.

The 135hp of the 2-litre showed up the extremely capable handling of the Lancer in the yumpy and often gravel-skiddy conditions. It's not that the car is exceptionally fast, but power does flow instantly you turn the tap, and with the assistance of the electronic gismos in place for such, very steady progress could be made.

Afterwards, with three people and their luggage up, the 1.3-litre and its 82hp really rather struggled when asked to go above and beyond, though the 1.6-litre with a conservative 98hp passed much more muster.

These were also roads which would test how well a car was put together, and there wasn't - nor did I expect there to be - any trace of a squeak or a rattle even in the rapid negotiation of some seriously Irish-style potholes.

If I have any initial grump, it's the long throw of the gearshift, which militates against real snappy shifts when you want quick torque change to make the most of the gravel bits. But that's not something which will bother most roadgoing drivers here. And while I'm at it, that 2-litre would benefit much from a 6-speed box.

The Lancer sedan comes in August, with 1.3- and 1.6-litre engines. The wagon comes soon after, and it will be available in standard 1.6-litre specification or the 'sport'-trimmed 2-litre.

If you're thinking of investing, reckon on 'under _19,000' for the entry car. The others are still in price negotiation.

All versions will have ABS with electronic brake force distribution as standard. Dual airbags at least will be provided, but as yet we don't know what else will come in the final packages here.

But there are Irish Mitsubishi dealers who will be delighted to have a proper C-segment contender again, and probably around 1,000 buyers will take the opportunity to buy one in a full year.

That's not being too ambitious. Which, simply, Mitsubishi is not trying to be. But Lancer is just paving the way for a whole raft of new products from the marque, many of which will happen in fairly short order. The brand once had 8.5 per cent market share here, at the turn of the eighties.

The Irish distributors are not claiming they'll get that again. Especially as the corporate plan of Mitsubishi to position itself 'between Audi and Alfa'. But it is certainly coming out of a long drought-stricken wilderness.