Thinking CAP: CAP's manufacturer relationship's manager Marting Ward scours the globe for the week's insider fleet intelligence

Monday

I’ve been using a Toyota Urban Cruiser for a few days, and it is one of those cars that I just don’t know what to make of it.

In reality it should work as it’s small, has plenty of room, a few nice toys, is economical and delivers low C02 emissions.

The story Toyota tells about the Urban Cruiser’s potential, demographics and lifestyle demands reminds me very much of the presentation we sat through many years ago for the Ford Fusion - that too was going to take on the world and conquer it, and failed miserably

Ford got it very wrong as it listened too much to the marketing people.

The Urban Cruiser, or UC as it is known by Toyota, doesn’t have too many true competitors, but here are a few with similar dimensions for comparison.

The UC is based on the Yaris, which is priced from £8,995, and the larger Auris costs from £12,900.

The Skoda Fabia starts at £8,195, while the popular Vauxhall Meriva is starts at £11,235, and the latest small MPV, the Kia Soul costs from £10,495.

The Fusion is 4,013mm long and 1,547mm tall and starts from £11,990.

The UC doesn’t do anything wrong, it is just nothing special.

And now to the real downside, its price - the cheapest 1.3 petrol front-wheel drive models starts at £14,500 and the 1.4 diesel four-wheel drive begins at £16,500.

Tuesday

Down to Pau in the French Pyrenees to drive the new Mini Convertible on a glorious day with temperatures up in the mid-20s.

You have to have good eyesight to spot the differences between the new and old Mini, but when you drive one you notice the improvements.

The new Convertible now feels rock-solid, with no scuttle-shake, as it has a 10% stiffer body and improved chassis.

One criticism of the previous model was poor rear visibility when the roof was up.

The new one is not perfect but with active roll-over bars, which pop-up if the car is in danger of rolling over, this has eliminated the permanent large bars which caused the obstruction in the rear view mirror.

The new car, like the old one, is great fun to drive and feels so safe and solid.

I drove the John Cooper Works which produces 211bhp and costs from £23,470, but we found the best one is the Cooper which costs £15,995.