NEXT week I get a chance to drive the new Vauxhall Insignia.

I’m really looking forward to it: Vauxhall’s engineers have done a brilliant job on paper – CO2 is down to 99g/km.

That’s class-leading and should really heighten the appeal to company car drivers as well as their business car managers.

Meanwhile the marketing/sales guys have also been working hard and have reduced the price by £3000 odd.

Again that’s another company car plus point – lower P11D equals lower company car tax payments.

You can see more here: New Vauxhall Insignia reverses downsizing company car trend.

Will it live up to its paper-based appeal? I’m hoping so.

But to make sure I got a proper comparison, I had a quick blast in the current Vauxhall Insignia – a 2.0-litre CTDi, the very same engine that will grace company car parks with a 99g/km CO2 engine very soon.

You can see some of the areas where the updates are needed: the centre console is confusing with too many buttons – this has been changed on the new model promises Vauxhall.

The engine is still too gruff – except on the motorway when it smoothes out nicely. I’ll let you know if this has changed when I drive the new car.

What was still significant was the car’s presence on the road. The Insignia acts like it’s in  a class above the Mondeo.

And that’s the reaction you get from people.