Two bad winters saw SUVs go from zero to hero.  All the signs from auctions and car supermarkets, at this time of year at least, show their used values are the only ones holding firm or going up.

So, hot on the heels of Land Rover’s Range Rover Evoque, Audi’s “me too” Q3 launch could hardly have been better timed.

And it’s not merely the prospect of another bout of bad weather that’s behind this.  The chattering classes of suburbia have re-discovered what those of us in the country have known all along - the SUV is a year-round, all-round vehicle with a greater range of ability than anything else on the road … or off it.