SKODA is a car maker with a smile on its face. One look at its sales performance is enough to see why.

Last year, the firm celebrated building a record half-million cars in a year - a 140 per cent rise in production in a little over a decade. The range, style and sheer quality of the cars built by the Czech firm in recent years easily explain why production has ramped up so rapidly.

Now there is a fourth model to give bargain-hunting buyers more reasons to check out the Skoda range.

Let's get the question of its looks out of the way quickly. Skoda describes the Roomster's design with words like unmistakable, remarkable, striking and distinctive.

Descriptions offered by work colleagues ranged from the less flattering to unprintable. Trust me, if you drive a Roomster you are going to be noticed.

But forget about the idiosyncratic window design and the sharply-chopped rear end and hop inside and the charm of this not-so-little car instantly hugs you.

It has a longer wheelbase than the much larger Octavia, yet is only ten inches or so longer than a Fabia hatchback and the room in the super-flexible interior is in a different league.

We will come back to that clever interior, but on the driving front, the Roomster is a little gem. With a choice of three petrol and three diesel engines, there is loads of choice.

The test model had the mid-range 1.4-litre petrol unit and it was an absolute flier.

Quiet, refined and rattle-free, I subjected it to the full rigours of the M25/M4 mayhem around Heathrow and it dealt with the three- and four-lane cut-and-thrust without a hiccup. Despite its modest size, it thrives on long-distance motoring and its flexible interior and whopping headroom means everyone on board will be able to get comfortable.

The rear seats slide forward and back and each has an adjustable seat back. The middle rear seat can be easily removed and the remaining two seats slid inwards to create much more shoulder space.

One look in the boot will have taxi drivers queuing up to get their hands on this car, as fast as they did when the luggage-swallowing Octavia hatch was first launched.

With prices starting at under £10,000, every Roomster, which has been given a top five-star Euro NCAP crash rating, comes with height-adjustable driver's seat and reach-and-rake-adjustable steering, curtain airbags, electric front windows and CD player with iPod connection.

Options are in the big-car league and include a full-length panoramic sunroof, satellite navigation and swivelling headlights. Plenty of reasons for those smiles to continue.

Auto facts Skoda Roomster 3 1.4 16v

  • Price: £12,480
  • Ins group: Four
  • Fuel consumption (Combined): 41.5mpg
  • Top speed: 106mph
  • Length: 420.5cm/165.5in
  • Width: 168.4cm/66.3in
  • Luggage capacity: 15.9 cu ft
  • Fuel tank capacity: 12.1 gallons/55 litres
  • CO2 emissions: 162g/km
  • Warranty: 3 years/60,000 miles