Citroen deserves more than just to be a brand that re-badges Peugeots. Until a decade or so ago, it was a marque that stood for innovation in all its forms, the kind of mainstream car you chose if you wanted cutting edge technology - and to stand apart from the herd.

In the Nineties, it has to be said, the French marque lost its way, thanks to some rather mean cost-cutting on the part of some very short-sighted bean counters in Paris. Thank goodness things have changed. If you want proof, then you want to drive a Citroen C4. Or rather more specifically, the C4 I've been testing on a long term basis for the last few months, the automatic EGS model.

Here is a car that in terms of looks, design and technology is something deserving of the chevron badge. The styling is far more cutting edge than, say, a rival Focus or Astra - and that's before you get inside. That steering wheel layout with its clever fixed hub arrangement seems strange at first but after a while, you start to wonder why other manufacturers never thought of it. Good design is like that.

The main reason I've been trying this car however, is really about the technology it embraces courtesy of the EGS automatic gearbox set-up. Here is an automatic transmission that claims all the benefits of a manual - and isn't too expensive either. If this was actually the case and buyers were made aware of it, we decided, it could have a big impact on sales of automatic cars in the family hatchback sector. Hence our decision to add a 1.6-litre HDi diesel C4 EGS to our long term test fleet.

EGS stands for 'Electonic Gearbox System' and it does an annoyingly disarming job of ironing out the traditional self-shifter bugbears. Initially, and particularly if you climb behind the wheel with a few negative preconceptions about automatics swimming around your head, it seems to be just more of the same. It lurches when you accelerate hard in fully automatic mode and manual shifts made with the wheel-mounted paddle shifters seem clumsily unrewarding. Persevere, however, and as you adapt your driving style to the gearbox, it's possible to make increasingly smooth progress. Even when pressing on, flipping away at the paddles at the right moment and with a little lift off the throttle can result in some nifty shifting from the computer-controlled gearbox. Better still, a C4 1.6 HDi with the EGS is actually 6% more fuel efficient that one without it. What's not to like?

"a refreshing change to the sea of sameness that can characterise cars in the current Family Hatchback sector.."

The fact that the C4 EGS can be relatively adept while being hurried along a country lane, with a little practice on the driver's part, is credit to Citroen because this isn't where self-shifting gearboxes are supposed to shine. It's their ease of use in urban driving conditions where the traffic's stacked nose to tail and drivers of manual cars are forced to stomp their clutch foot like George W Bush at a hoedown that makes autos so appealing. Sure enough, the C4 is even better in this environment where it's able to take some of the annoyance out of a half hour spent creeping along in a mammoth tailback. The C4 affords good visibility and turns tightly to help you wriggle out of tight spots in the traffic. When you need to accelerate hard to get out into that gap in the traffic flow, it responds quite briskly. The brakes are a little too brisk and until you get used to them, even the gentlest deceleration can become an emergency stop.

When cruising, it seems refreshingly sure of itself and resists the urge to shuffle around through the gears when you encounter an incline. All in all, if there's an automatic gearbox to make fans of manual cars reappraise their position this could be it.

As I've already said, step inside the C4 and it doesn't look or feel like your average family hatchback but get over the initial visual complexity and all the things you really need are where you'd expect to find them. One possible exception is the main display which sits atop the fascia resembling the Lords cricket ground media centre. Peer beneath the hooded binnacle and rather than the Test Match Special team comparing notes on the day's fruit cake, you'll find essentials like your current speed, fuel reserves and engine temperature as well as various warning lights. I found that the display worked well in all light levels but some of the digits are a little small to pick-out at a glance.

You expect a decent quota of kit with a Citroen of this kind and the C4 doesn't disappoint. I went for the slightly sporty VTR+ model, a car which features scented air-conditioning, an automatic speed limiter and cruise control. I decided against specifying the lane departure warning system, which vibrates your seat to wake you up if you cross a white line without indicating.

Having lent the car to several colleagues, test notes received back seem to indicate that it has been received very positively. The stereo controls on the fixed-hub steering wheel appear to have gone down well, as has the sliding armrest in between the front seats that can be adjusted to your favourite position and lifts up to reveal a handy storage bin.

Some mentioned that the rear door openings could be wider to facilitate easier access and a few taller passengers in the back found their legs bunched up a bit but most passengers remarked that there was plenty of headroom while my wife appreciates the capacious boot with its low loading lip. The seating material on out VTR+ is a strange netting fabric that has proven a little difficult to clean and the imitation carbon fibre plastic on the centre console isn't of the best quality. Otherwise, the materials and construction do more than pass muster.

I like to think that this C4 is the kind of car that Andre Citroen, the marque's originator, would have produced. Clever, forward-thinking and innovative, it's a refreshing change to the sea of sameness that can characterise cars in the current Family Hatchback sector.