The VW Passat has been growing in popularity with sharper looks and the new Ford Mondeo just launched is being talked of as a very strong contender for the Semperit Irish Car of the Year award.

Now the French are on the way with a new Laguna which is the best offering yet from the Renault stable.

The high sales point of the year is over so the new Laguna, which premieres at Frankfurt Motor Show in three months time and will be here by October, will be well flagged for the 2008 January sales rush. Expect to see a real tussle to attract the attention of fleet managers and private buyers in the most important segment of the car market.

The third generation Laguna is longer, wider and taller than the current model but it is lighter by 15kg. Up front there are bigger headlights and a lower bonnet under which fog lights are incorporated in a wide air-intake. At the rear, light clusters are slotted in between the rear window and a ridged waistline that sweeps from the side through the boot lid.

The interior gets lots of high-tech equipment . . . Sat Nav will be available with bluetooth compatibility and MP3 players can be connected directly into the entertainment system.

Stiffer suspensions will give the new Laguna better handling qualities, the level of finish is improved and Renault is aiming for a top five-star NCAP crash test rating.

Insiders say there will be a wide range of engines on offer with the highly rated 1.5litre diesel, used by both Renault and Nissan in other models, beefed up to 108bhp output to cater for the bigger Laguna body. This engine can return over 55 mpg and has low C02 emissions at 136g/km.

A Sport Tourer version gets a 'Superfold' rear seat system that leaves a flat cargo area. There will be a coupe model next year. And there is speculation in the trade that Seat may be planning a Mondeo-sized car for the future to replace the poorly selling MPV-derived Toledo on a platform it will share with its sibling the Passat.

And other important news from Renault is that the Twingo is on the way here for the first time. The new version which has just been launched internationally should be here by September. The original Twingo was built in left-hand drive only so we missed out on a car that proved to be a big hit on the continent.

The car is only 3.6m long but Renault engineers have made it very spacious with the rear individual seats on rollers to accommodate cargo/passenger requirements.