What Car? Q&A - What's the cheapest automatic new car?

Q: I am looking to buy a new car, as I am now unable to drive cars with a manual gearbox. Which is the cheapest automatic currently on sale?
John Maxwell

A: Many of the cheapest cars on the market are now available with an automatic option, the cheapest being Perodua's Kelisa 1.0 EZi SE at £6399. However, as with many of its rivals, it struggles to cope on the open road due to the combination of a small engine and an automatic gearbox.

A slightly more left-field choice may be a Smart ForTwo, featuring a semi-automatic gearbox as standard and available from £6810.

Alternatively, many nearly new cars, including our favourite used buy, the Ford Focus, can offer larger engines and more practical motoring for similar money.