Vauxhall has set the summer motoring scene sizzling with pictures of the new Corsa supermini, due to go on sale in the UK this autumn.

Despite the blow to the firm's Ellesmere Port factory, with the cutting of 900 jobs there, Vauxhall is forging ahead with the launch of what has been labelled as the most important supermini launch in Britain for three years.

The new Corsa is slicker, more stylish, and is better equipped to take on the latest Ford Fiesta and new Peugeot 207.

Vauxhall is taking the public wraps off the car here in July, at the British International Motor Show, to be held at the ExCel Centre in London's Docklands. It adds more space by being a fraction wider and longer than the current Corsa, while the coupe-like roofline of the three-door gives it a dynamic, sporty stance. In a Press statement on the fresher, funkier new Corsa, chief designer Niels Loeb said: "This is just what we wanted the coupe-like three-door Corsa to be.

"Unique both inside and out, giving the owner a lasting feel-good factor. It just cries out to be driven."

Inside the Corsa, the longer wheelbase and wider track delivers more leg and shoulder room, and the cabin is finished in better-quality materials, including neat touches such as translucent control knobs and switches, which illuminate with the headlamps to make them easier to find in the dark.

This Corsa will be the first in its class to have variable progressive sports power steering, which offers greater levels of feedback on the open road, but lightens up when driving more slowly on crowded city streets.

Five engines will be available 1.0-, 1.2- and 1.4-litre petrol choices, and two turbo diesels, of 1.3- and 1.7-litre sizes.

Prices and specifications will be announced closer to the autumn launch.