Is this real art?

Minivans have never been much to look at and it's easy to understand why. Because their primary purpose is to haul lots of bodies and their luggage, these vehicles are designed from the inside out to absolutely maximize the amount of space inside. By the time this is done, designers are left with nothing more than a slab-sided box with a slanted front and it's not surprising that they lose inspiration.

We could say the same for the previous Citroen Picasso. Luckily it appears Citroen brought some artists on board for the second generation because this one comes much closer to living up to its name — this is easily the most stylish MPV on the market right now.

That 'space age' design has also made it through to the interior. Step inside and you're greeted by a very simplistic-looking dashboard, with most of the controls located either on the fixed-hub steering wheel or on either side of the dash.

It's a very spacious cabin too and you'll soon notice how airy it feels. This is owed to Citroen's 'Visiospace' concept, which maximizes visibility with large windows and a panoramic windscreen that extends partly into the front roof area. When driving towards an afternoon sun, most of the glare can be blocked out by the roof panels holding the sun visors, which can slide forward.

So, how spacious is it? Unlike rivals such as the Verso, Zafira and Touran, the Picasso only seats five, but it's no doubt the most spacious five-seater around. It has five individual seats, which provide top-notch comfort and flexibility. All three rear seats can slide forward and backwards individually, allowing you to vary the ratio between leg room and boot space and they also recline just like airline seats.

The back seats also have a clever folding system that allows them to sink into themselves to create a flat loading floor when you want to haul huge objects. You'll also have a good view of what's going down on the back seats thanks to a supplementary rear view mirror.

So the Picasso clearly does the minivan thing very well, and that's really as far as it goes with this vehicle. Its 1.6-litre turbo-diesel engine struggles to pull the vehicle's heavy weight and resulting performance is rather sluggish in all respects, though there is a huge economy advantage. Its ride and handling qualities are decent, but nothing to make you think you're driving anything other than an MPV.

The Citroen Picasso doesn't pretend to be anything but that and as a van it does the job admirably if you're only looking for a five-seater and it's a very stylish, safe and well-equipped package to boot. Pity it's so expensive though, with this diesel model pegged at R250K.