Category: Small Family 
Price Range: £12,795 to £21,445
Smooth, quick changes; low carbon dioxide emissions.
Only available on Zetec and Titanium; ride deteriorates with sports suspension; pricey.
The best car in its segment finally has an equally impressive auto offering.
Ford has had some serious catching up to do.
For four years, the brand has been in the transmission wilderness. Arch-rival Volkswagen dominated the development and manufacture of a dual-clutch gearbox, with a million DSG gearboxes sold.
Shared throughout the Volkswagen group, Audi, Seat, Skoda and even Bugatti have all benefited from the technology that offers lightning-quick gear changes and smoothness other clutchless manuals couldn't dream of.
Now Ford's (finally) got in on the act with its Powershift transmission system. You can expect to see it across the Ford small car range and for it to appear in Volvo's C30, S40 and V50 range.
Instead of going alone, the Dagenham-based brand teamed up with gearbox specialist Getrag to create the new system.
Ford is marketing the new £1,200 option as a low CO2, fuel-efficient alternative to an standard auto. It will only be available on Zetec and Titanium trim levels with only a 108bhp or 134bhp version of the 2.0-litre TDCi.
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