How much would you expect to pay for a 250bhp premium car, built in Germany and powered by a smooth and punchy 2.8-litre V6 engine?

A quick scan through the price lists suggests you’ll be looking at upwards of £30k, but not with Vauxhall’s new flagship Signum.

The 2.8-litre turbo, available in Design or Elite trim, is available from only £23,050, and now comes with an uprated V6 powerplant, developing 250bhp and an impressive 350Nm of torque. The new unit gives it an incredible 0-60mph time of just 6.8 seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 155mph for the manual version.

Design models feed the power to the road through a six-speed manual gearbox, while the more luxury-oriented Elite comes with a six-speed automatic transmission with Active Select facility.

Both models come with ESP-Plus as standard, while the Design gets lowered and uprated sports suspension.

As with all Signum models, standard equipment includes colour sat nav, 17-inch alloy wheels and electrically operated front and rear windows. The Design also has front fog lamps, dark-style head and tail lights, half-leather trim, automatic lighting control, rain-sensitive windscreen wipers and active head restraints, while Elite models get full leather trim and electronic climate control. To fit this equipment to some rivals would involve an expensive trip to the options list.

The new models join the range immediately, while buyers who don’t feel the need for 250bhp powerplant can still take advantage of Signum’s space, style and high levels of equipment with prices starting at just £18,150 for 1.8-litre Exclusiv.