I’ve never been a big Vauxhall Corsa fan, I always found it dreadfully dull, to be honest.

The last gen was better, granted, particularly on the inside, but this new one is a major change.

That’s because the 2019 Corsa F is based on the Peugeot 208 Common Modular Platform (CMP) – the first of the Opel/Vauxhall nameplates to be built no longer on a GM platform, but on one from Peugeot/Citroen/DS.

And it gets Peugeot-Citroen engines, but more on that later.

So, in short, this is the first Vauxhall to be heavily influenced by PSA after it took over Vaux in 2017.

It’s not tough to see the similarities with the new Peugeot 208 when you look at it, that’s for sure.

And that’s no bad thing at all – this is another major leap forward for the Corsa.

It certainly isn’t dull anymore and I for one am very glad about that.

There’s plenty of kit and tech available that you would normally associate with bigger cars – active cruise control, lane keep assist and the like, as well as bells and buttons such as nav, digital radio, smartphone integration, climate control, heated seats, rear view camera and parking sensors all round and plenty more.

The petrol we drove – the 1.2 with 100ps – was a very lively little number with plenty of poke, with sport mode livening things up even further.

It’s familiar, being used heavily in the Peugeot-Citroen line-up, and the Corsa benefits hugely from its introduction.

Eco mode dulls things a bit, but even then it’s still perky.

Around 40mpg is easy in town and we managed 48 on a motorway drive.

That compares very favourably with its on-paper figures of 45.6 to 48.7mpg.

Make no mistake, this engine is a great combination of lively performance and efficiency.

Also available is the lower-powered 75ps petrol, which inevitably isn’t as nippy, but does claim even better MPG, topping 50 to the gallon.

While diesel might be going out of fashion, you can still have your Corsa with another corker of a motor, the PSA 1.5 BlueHDi, with 102ps.

It’s the most efficient, of course, with claimed figures of 67 to 69mpg.

And, for the first time, Corsa is available with all-electric power.

On the face of it this looks like a great offering – a claimed range of 209 miles is very tempting and 60mph coming up in a nifty 7.6 seconds.

It’s a fun drive in general, with neat, light handling and our power was delivered through the very smooth eight-speed automatic box.

Inside things are again impressive, with Vauxhall mixing with PSA nicely.

Materials are good for the most part – although it doesn’t quite match its 208 sibling – and this is somewhere that Vauxhall has improved a lot in recent years and looks set to do so more with its new parents.

It’s a decent boot for a small hatch and rear space isn’t bad, either.

This is definitely a big leap forward for the Corsa and, if it’s a sign of things to come for the brand, the future looks good.

Prices start at £15,750, rising to just shy of £26,000.

When it comes to electric, you’re looking at between £27,000 and £30,660.