The man who was in charge of Volkswagen’s environmental office in the United States has just been sent to prison for seven years.

He was one of the people involved in the VW emission scandal and the second person to go to jail.

But do the general public care? Not a jot.

As far as they are concerned Volkswagen continue to make the best cars in the world and VW continues to sell them by the millions.

The latest car to come out of the VW workshop is the new SUV which has the curious name of T-Roc, which sounds more like a pop band than an automobile.

It’s a compact version, just about the size of a Golf, and looking at the opposition it’s certainly one of the best among the crossover and small SUV section.

There’s only one body style to choose from but there are plenty of engines with three petrol and two diesel models, with 114, 148 and 188bhp options on the petrol engines in 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0-litre sized, 114 and 148bhp choices for the 1.6 and two 2.0-litre diesel versions.

But one thing VW does have that some of the competitors do not is a four-wheel drive option. I can never understand why there is not this option as there are a lot of customers want one.

Auto gearboxes are available in both diesel and petrols and there are plans for a T-Roc R version which will knock the spots off a leopard when it arrives.

A total of five different trim levels are offered now for SE, Design and SE L versions and a couple more should be online early in 2018.

There’s bags of space space for passengers and luggage and a lot of hi-tech connectivity, autonomous driving and safety kit available.

The one litre petrol version is difficult to beat. It shares its wheelbase and platform with the Audi Q2 and comes in around £20,000. It has a top speed of 116mph; does 50 miles to the gallon and is designed to be eye catching and sporty.

It is great fun to drive with bags of grip and excellent steering, control and comfort. And on the capacity front it has one of the largest luggage compartments in its class.

The boot has 445 litres of space, which is a quarter more than the Golf and there is a level loading lip which makes it easy to get a heavy load on board. The rear seats fold into a 60:40 split which gives you a total of 1,290 litres of capacity.

Driving around the town or in the country the T-Roc will be your friend. It’s easy to park and if you want to have the total unnecessary self parking gizmo then order one.

There’s bags of kit available with pedestrian protection, a driver fatigue button, cruise control, lane assist etc etc. Is it really necessary to have all this stuff? But once one manufacturer starts then the rest follow like sheep.

Most drivers will want to go back to petrol now that we have had all the bad publicity about diesel yet around 20 per cent of buyers will still go for diesel on the T-Roc which is still the best for the driver who puts plenty of miles under their belt.

An 8-inch touchscreen is on all T-Roc models and this looks after the infotainment system and there is an advanced digital dashboard display as well. Apple and Android can be connected easily and there is Bluetooth, DAB radio and USB connectivity. Maps and directions are shown clearly on the sat system.

There is sufficient space for four people on a long journey with good headroom.

More than six million VW cars were sold last year around the world and 200,000 in the UK. Expect those figures to rise.