LEXUS has dipped its toe in the luxury hatchback market with what it describes as the world’s first compact luxury hybrid car, the CT200h.

The new entry-level Lexus, which uses the latest third-generation hybrid powertrain from the Toyota family, mixes legendary Lexus build quality with Toyota’s benchmark hybrid fuel efficiency.

But it takes more than those qualities to mix it with the current luxo hatch champions from Europe, with road manners and outright performance in question.

The early signs from prototype test cars driven by journalists in France last year were not promising, with a harsh ride and equally harsh road noise top of the complaints list.

Has Lexus addressed these issues with the production cars? Read on...