Lexus NX offers plenty but it's a tough market

The styling is as sharp as a supermodel's face, and you'll probably either love it or hate it. That's what Lexus wants, because you can't please everybody and it's better to please some people a lot than fade into the background. The NX is no shrinking violet, as long as you avoid silver. There's a completely new colour option that layers ordinary paint over a highly compressed layer of flake to create a deeper, more lustrous shine. Even in white the difference is obvious – and deliciously premium.

Choose anything above the basic S model and you'll benefit from winter-beating four-wheel drive. The NX is a bit of a Tardis, too, with 475 litres of boot space courtesy of a huge hidden compartment and enough rear legroom to let your kids have a game of boules.

There's also a space-saver spare wheel as standard – unique among the NX's rivals. But check this out for a practical feature: the bottle holder in the centre console has a high-friction base so you can open twist-cap drinks with one hand. Very neat.

There's also an induction charging pad that needs no wires to charge a compatible handset. You're basically driving the future.

For the most part the NX is high quality, especially the leathers. There are one or two small bits of Toyota-spec plastic but they're easy to ignore. The touch-pad computer interface is actually more intuitive than you might initially give it credit for, too.

The drive is impressively refined, with supple suspension, decent body control and super-smooth response from the hybrid powertrain. It's not that hard to accelerate gently away using just the electric motor, but on the other hand the outright performance is nothing Usain Bolt would get excited about. There's no two ways about it – it's pretty pedestrian. At least the seats are worth a postcard home. Big, perfectly supportive and highly adjustable, the only caveat is for drivers who like their seat back very upright, at which point the forward-leaning anti-whiplash headrests become a pain.

The Mark Levinson stereo – exclusive to the Premier trim grade – is worth a mention too. It has special software to identify and compensate for the lost quality of compressed digital music, and as long as the source is hooked up via a wired connection, it's brilliant. Music played via Bluetooth doesn't benefit in the same way.

The NX has stiff opposition from its German arch-enemies, but it's more than good enough to win fans at the mid-range Luxury price of £34,495. Classic FM-smooth hybrid drive is a big selling point and the clever on-board tech is right on the money.

It's just a shame that so much of it is reserved for this £42,995 Premier range-topper.

But who would buy one? There are USPs for parents, business users, tech geeks and obviously people who've had enough of the usual German options. The NX is a clever car, and a lot of people should appreciate its comfort, gadgets and generally premium feel. This deserves to be the car that boosts Lexus' UK sales to the next level.

This car summed up in a single word: Advanced

If this car was animal: It would be a chimpanzee. It's intelligent, versatile and well put-together.