Some 20 per cent of Opel production in future will be 'niche' cars, as opposed to traditional and innovative vehicles. I suppose the new Meriva straddles both innovative and niche.

Though with targeted sales of some 800 units in Ireland in the rest of this year, and perhaps double that in 2004, maybe 'niche' is not the correct term.

The small MPV, built on a Corsa platform but significantly bigger, has a cuddly feel that very quickly attracts, and yet is uniquely flexible in the class as far as people and load carrying is concerned.

Its big brother Zafira, based on the Astra platform, came from nowhere to directly rival compact MPV segment founder Renault Scenic. Those two account for around half of all sales in that segment in Ireland.

Can Meriva do something similar in the next segment down? One which currently has contenders such as Ford's Fusion and Mazda's Demio (soon to be replaced by the Mazda 2). That there is a perceived market out there is also evidenced by the soon-to-be-available Fiat Punto-based 'monospace'.

But the Meriva, on the face of it rather larger than all of those, may well tap a niche of its own. Indeed, the legroom in the new car is actually better in both front and rear seats than the equivalent places in its bigger brother Zafira, and only yields to that car in the matter that it seats five rather than seven.

It has arrived in Ireland with a choice of power units - 1.6-litre 87bhp and 1.8-litre 125bhp initially, and a 1.7-litre 100bhp turbodiesel in the autumn which is the first on the road to achieve Euro IV emissions standards not required for another three years.

The Meriva is 80 per cent all new, but Opel have raided the parts bins from several of its proven models, so that there are elements of the interior and underpinnings which come directly from Astra and Vectra as well as the Corsa.

The Meriva's dash is strongly Vectra in looks and feel, while the overall trim is what we've come to recognise as very Opel.

So too is the sense of strength, which has been a hallmark of Opels in recent years. They didn't try to make this car over-light for the sake of it, and my early impressions were that they didn't stint on the soundproofing either.

For the market at which this car is aimed - a small but growing family, perhaps, or a shrunken one where there's left a couple who have high-maintenance hobbies like gardening - toughness is what's needed.

Meriva is all curves, no sharp intimidating edges, no external hypeing of state-of-the-art or high-tech. And yet there's tech there aplenty. Not just in the drivetrain, where we now expect it as a given, but in the areas where this kind of car ought to excel.

Most MPVs suffer from what needs to be done with the seats if you want to change the accommodation. They either have to be taken out, or if you flip/roll them forward their essential bulk means that load space is still taken up.

In this one, you can do much more, and hold much more, than any competition I'm currently aware of.

It starts with the centre seat in the rear, which can be effectively folded out of the way and the two outside seats shifted back to make this a 4-seater with limousine roominess.

There are tricks with that centre area too which involve an optional 'Travel Assistant' box that becomes a 5-litre storage area as well as being an adjustable centre armrest.

The passengers in those back seats can also recline their seats well beyond the norm, so a pair of snoozers in the back can easily do a long journey in pleasant oblivion.

But if loads have to be moved, the seatbacks can be shifted completely away underneath so that a 1.7-metre long luggage area is created, with a completely flat floor.

Then there's the ability to drop the front passenger seat, so that a surfer can carry his or her board completely inside the car (or even a few of them, because there's still the capability to have three people and their stuff onboard).

There's also a lidded storage compartment under the rear luggage area, for keeping vulnerable items out of view.

More is possible, but that can wait for a full review under Irish conditions. Just now, what's the Meriva like to drive?

Short answer, nice. I managed some time in three versions. The 1.6-litre with Opel's automised manual transmission was a breeze to drive on the flat, but struggled a little on the kind of steep inclines which you can get in Majorca.

The 1.8-litre ECOTEC, familiar from Zafira and the Vectra, had plenty of punch, making it a car well capable of dealing with any road profile you want to take it to.

Then the 1.7-litre diesel, the common-rail higher-powered version, and with a fuel consumption of better than 51mpg, will be the one to deal with any increasing running costs in the household. The diesels will also be available in the autumn with the EasyTronic automated manual, which actually does better in fuel consumption terms than the standard manual.

I was impressed by the quietness of the diesel here, but I have to wait for a run in Ireland to confirm this, because a couple of colleagues thought their one was noisy.

The handling overall is neat and precise, and dealing with a few high-rise hairpins caused no trouble.

People who saw the car, and who maybe hadn't seen it before, smiled. Like people do when they see the new Nissan Micra, for instance.

It is a friendly car, and I suspect quite a few people in Ireland will be making friends with this latest Opel kid on the block.