Although the Skoda Superb estate was a newcomer to the market in 2010, the company could discover a ready-made audience as fleets replace their estate cars.

In the upper-medium car sector, estates used to be workhorses, but more recently many have evolved to prioritise style over practicality.

Thank goodness Skoda went down the traditional route, as there are increasingly few cars of this size that will swallow seriously large loads.

With rear seats in place, the Superb offers 633 litres of luggage volume – impressive, even for a large car. With rear seats folded and the entire space available, is increases 1,865 litres.

One estate offers more – the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, at 1,950 litres but with prices from more than £30,000 – and the Ford Mondeo appears to be the best of the rest at 1,733 litres.

A few estates in this class have less luggage volume than lower-medium cars in the manufacturer’s range.

The Vauxhall Insignia Sport Tourer (1,530 litres vs 1,550 litres for Astra Sport Tourer), while the Renault Laguna Sport Tourer and Megane Sport Tourer are close for practicality.

Others have become smaller as newer versions are introduced: the latest Honda Accord, and the Insignia compared with the Vectra estate.

So it’s easy to understand the appeal of the Superb, and it’s already proving itself as king load lugger on our fleet.