If you don't fancy the idea of a teensy supermini to drive about it in but don't have the stomach for a small SUV with the domesticated image that entails then the Toyota Urban Cruiser could be just your cup of tea.
It is the third way - based on Toyota's Yaris supermini, the Urban Cruiser offers butch styling at a manageable size. Kia has already tried it with some success in the form of the Soul, and Ford's Fusion is a similar idea, if aimed at slightly different audiences.
The Urban Cruiser puts itself up against wider competition than that, though - people could be tempted out from standard superminis like the Yaris all the way to the likes of the Citroen C3 Picasso or Suzuki's SX4 crossover.
The Urban Cruiser does sit higher than a supermini, and the driving position is certainly elevated compared to the Yaris it is based on. It isn't an imperious outlook, but it is useful for driving around town.
The Urban Cruiser is definitely a notch below even a soft roader, though. The low-slung bodywork might not survive such an excursion, but the Urban Cruiser can still be specced with four-wheel-drive - and it remains frugal even then. The 1.4-litre diesel engine teamed with the all-wheel-drive system will still return a heady 57mpg according to Toyota.
The 1.3-litre petrol with two-wheel drive is the better bet overall, however - it has more accessible power than the diesel and it does cope much better in the city.
If the exterior of the car is as funky as the restrained Toyota will get, the dashboard is business as usual. The build quality is up to the Japanese company's usual high standards, however.
The Urban Cruiser's point of interest is being a slightly more spacious jacked-up supermini - and whilst it certainly is spacious, with room for five inside and a reasonable boot, Toyota has priced the car to compete with rivals that are genuine mini-SUVs, so the Urban Cruiser remains a compromise choice.
The Toyota is at least decently equipped, but you can't help but wonder what the point is of a car that bridges the gap between a small hatch and a crossover. As expensive as an SUV, as big as a supermini and not quite capable of off-roading prowess. It might be better - and probably cheaper - just to decide either way and get the supermini or the SUV.