Vauxhall wants to stop being known as the purveyor of bland cars to large fleets and daily rental companies, so it is launching its first premium car – the Adam. It might seem strange that its first premium car is also going to be its smallest, but the idea makes a lot of sense. No-one is going to buy a large premium Vauxhall in preference to a BMW or Audi, and the Citroen DS3 has shown how a funky small car can transcend the image of its manufacturer. Citroen might not be fashionable, but the DS3 certainly is.

The Adam is going to go head-to-head with the Fiat 500 for the hearts and minds of people who want a chic car and don’t need much space – either because they are young or because this is going to be the second (or third) car.However there is bad news for anyone who things Adam is a silly name (that would be everyone in our office at least). The names of the trim levels defy belief – according to the press release, they will be ” JAM (fashionable/colourful), GLAM (elegant/sophisticated) and SLAM (racy/sporty)”. Who is going to proudly announce on their Facebook page, “Just ordered an Adam Jam”?Mechanically Adam has the choice of three rather old-tech engines: 1.2-litre (69 bhp), 1.4-litre (86 bhp) or 1.4 litre (98 bhp). Vauxhall is promising that a new small engine will follow, which presumably will be its equivalent to Ford’s brilliant 1.0 Econetic engine.

The Adam will go on sale in September, with first UK deliveries taking place in January 2013.