Larger than the Cee’d but smaller than the Sportage, Kia’s upcoming Niro crossover offers the intriguing prospect of an affordable hybrid SUV.

Powered by an electrically-assisted 1.6 petrol engine, the Niro offers a combined power figure of 139bhp and CO2 emissions below 100g/km. It has a six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox (rather than the sometimes noisy CVT transmission fitted to Toyota’s Prius or Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV) and a lithium-ion battery tucked under the rear seats.

Our Frankfurt test route indicated a car with better steering than any other Kia we’ve sampled recently. On faster roads outside the city, the car needed none of the regular steering inputs demanded by other products from this company.

It’s fair to say that few Niros will be bought for trackday use. We didn’t get many opportunities to test outright speed or handling but we did find that cornering was relatively roll-free. You can easily get the low-resistance tyres squealing, but in normal use the Niro is comfy enough, bar the odd crash making its way into the cabin on particularly poor road surfaces.

Transmission of mechanical noise and vibration through the controls has been especially well subdued. It’s possible to tell that the engine has started, but only just, and the oily bits work nicely with the electric motor. The driver can change gears manually by knocking the gearlever forward and back.

The interior design will be familiar to Kia owners but now there’s a nice soft feel to the dash, door trim, steering wheel and gearknob. The head and leg room for those in the back is very impressive. Four six-footers will easily fit into a Niro, and the underseat battery location means the boot will take their luggage too. Loading is easy thanks to a low lip and near-flat floor when the rear seats are dropped.

The ongoing popularity of crossovers and hybrids makes the Niro sound like an appealing option. There’s no real excitement about it, and the jury is out on how it will ride on British roads, but our car posted an indicated 64.2mpg on our hour-long real-world route. That will be enough to swing it for many.

Niro prices haven’t been released yet, but we’d be surprised if they didn’t start at least £2k below the level of a basic Prius.

Kia Niro

On sale: Autumn

Price: £22,000 (est)

Engine: Four-cylinder, 1580cc, petrol, hybrid

Power: 139bhp at 5700rpm (combined)

Torque: 195lb ft at 1000-2400rpm (combined)

Gearbox: Six-speed dual-clutch automatic

Kerbweight: 1425kg

Top speed: 100mph

0-62mph: 11.5sec

Economy: 74.3mpg (combined)

CO2/tax band: 88g/km, 15%