In France auto industry has traditionally been considered quirky and xenophobic, producing cars having a distinctly Gallic flavour intended essentially for home sale. If anybody else should occur to like them, then fine.

The exception for this rule is Peugeot, with a far more open and cosmopolitan view of how its product family should be perceived: instead of building French cars it builds overtly European models which have a broad appeal Newest member of the mainstream folks are the excellent 407, which is available in both sedan and SW (an acronym that might or may not mean sport wagon) but additionally new may be the 1007, first inside a projected type of ‘double-0’ niche market cars which fall away from mainstream product line-up.

This transfer to niche products is anticipated to yield a coupe version of the 407 – the 406 Coupe apparently surprised even Peugeot by its breadth of appeal – and perhaps a multi-purpose/sports utility crossover depending on that same floor pan.