Family hatchbacks are highly popular for many smaller households as they deliver practicality, performance and affordability in one neat package. For many years you would not look past the likes of Ford and VW for a hatchback as they were truly the only options, but now out the woodwork has come the budget brands and more recently the premium car makers to take their slice of the pie. However, which should you choose the old staple family hatch or the premium option? Let’s see the differences

Image

There is no denying that you would feel better about yourself when driving in a 2014 Mercedes A-Class or Alfa Romeo Giulietta than a Hyundai i30. It doesn’t matter which is the better car, how reliable it may be or how frugal it is to drive; image matters. If badges didn’t matter we wouldn’t be driving Audi cars, we’d all be happy with a Skoda as they do almost everything an Audi can, but at a drastically lower price point. Badges mean a lot and premium hatchbacks allow you to get behind the wheel of a cool car that would have previously been out of your range.

Refinement

To be fair to mainstream and budget car makers the level of refinement in their models has improved dramatically. Mainstream manufacturers have always offered a decent finish inside with a mix of durability and quality throughout. However, the premium car makers take this to a new level with plusher materials and better quality components that begin to show the longer you live with them every day. All in all the differences are not as vast as you’d think and you’ll truly get good levels of refinement whatever you spend.

Performance and economy

As you’d expect the more you pay the more refined and efficient the engines are, but there is very little to choose between mainstream and premium. The likes of BMW, Audi and Mercedes produce remarkably smooth, powerful and refined engines that are well worth paying extra for. However, Ford and VW invest similar money in their engine range and if anything will be just as frugal across the board.

Drive

If reputations ruled then there would be no competition between the drive of a premium hatchback and a regular option. But the premium manufacturers really stuck their neck out by entering a market when they had no expertise. Less expensive options have been honing the drive of the small car for a long time and that’s why they still have the lead in dynamism. Oddly enough the one premium hatchback that does drive well is the Audi A3, which performs better than its larger siblings.

The choice of premium or regular family hatchbacks comes down to budget and whether you are image conscious or not.