Medium range saloon cars can be any number of things. Cheap, pretty, bland, quick, slow, comfortable, and sporty all have their place. One attribute that mass manufacturers have shied away from is challenging. Safe sells in a sector where the key purchaser was often a beady eyed fleet manager.

Nowadays, things are a whole lot different and in order to differentiate themselves in a tough market place, these cars need to have a distinct edge. The Peugeot 407 certainly weighs in with 'distinctive' on its side.

The latest car features a chrome grille to mark it out from previous iterations but elsewhere, the looks will continue to divide opinion. From some angles the 407 looks utterly sensational. Viewed in profile, that long bonnet and stub tail have definite elements of Ferrari, even if the car was styled, not by Pininfarina (who do most of the styling work for the Maranello company and a bit on the side for Peugeot) but by a team of in house stylists. Whether you deem it a homage or a knock-off, there's little doubt that the 407 has genuine head turning aesthetics. Walk a few degrees off the side view and things get a little less easy on the eye, the long front overhang looking a little lugubrious and the gaping maw of a grille dominating the frontal aspect. The tail end is very neat indeed although as a result of the stylish truncation at the back, the 407's boot isn't the biggest in class.

The 160bhp 2.2-litre petrol engine that powers the mid-range 407 Sport model we're looking at here will be familiar to 406 customers, powering as it did the sporting SRi version, and it's a very good unit. Zippy enough to entertain in a straight line, it'll make 60mph in 10.1 seconds and run on to a top speed of 136mph, helped in no small part by the 407's very slippery shape. Fuel economy is surprisingly good for a peppy petrol powerplant in what is a deceptively large car, the 407 2.2 returning a creditable 31mpg on the combined cycle. Emissions aren't this 407's strongest suit, although the 214g/km figure won't preclude it from business buyers who are genuinely sold on the look and feel.

The 407 marks a very definite sea change in Peugeot's philosophy towards mid range cars. Whereas before, cars like the 405 (and, to a slightly lesser extent, the 406) were imbued with the small car liveliness upon which the French company has latterly forged its reputation, the 407 feels as if it has a whole lot more 'big-car' Peugeot in the DNA. Given that the 607 from which these genes are passed on hasn't exactly been a stellar success for Peugeot, is this cause for concern?

"Right from the outset the investment in quality is manifest"

Perhaps Peugeot have merely been very astute in seeing where this section of the market is heading. For a few years now, what's been termed the 'medium range mainstream sector' has been steadily diminishing, sales eroded by smarter and more practical mini-MPV style vehicles from below, smaller prestige models from above and shrinking fleet volumes. Cars like the 406, the Ford Mondeo, the Vauxhall Vectra and the Renault Laguna which were once some of the UK's strongest selling cars have seen sales dwindle. It must be frustrating for the manufacturers who, having poured enormous budgets into creating what are some of the most impressive vehicles on the road today, saw profits vaporising before their very eyes. It didn't help that the current crop of Japanese rivals such as the Honda Accord, the Mazda6 and the Toyota Avensis are looking stronger than ever. With this in mind, Peugeot realised that in order for the 407 to make respectable sales, it couldn't be just another bland repmobile. As a result the styling is bold, the interior quality is unarguably better than an entry-level Mercedes and the driving characteristics have matured to suit a customer who neither wants to corner on the door handles nor feels the necessity to have a prestige badge as an ego prop.

In order to carry off this tricky balancing act, the 407 needed to be very carefully priced and the 2.2-litre model looks to have this right on the money, so as to speak. Prices for the well-equipped Sport model kick off at £19,350 for the saloon and SW estates are offered at a £1,200 premium. When stacked up against rivals from Ford, Vauxhall and Renault, those prices look reasonable - especially when you check out the Sport equipment list which delivers half leather seats, a CD autochanger, rear parking sensors and a Bluetooth hands free telephone kit.

Right from the outset, the investment in quality is manifest. The half leather seating of our test car felt better and seemed of higher quality than many of the bargain basement full leather trims fitted to upper-spec mid range saloons and the seats had enough lateral grip and were comfortable. The steering wheel is trimmed in leather but featured neat cut outs for the thumbs. The dashboard follows the trend for 'waterfall' centre consoles on which most of the major instruments are placed and sees a welcome move away from the rattly hard plastic ventilation and air conditioning controls that have blighted many Peugeots of yore. Expensively slush moulded plastics yield to the touch along the top of the dashboard whilst there are classy looking applique strips along the dash and doors to brighten the interior ambience a little. The Peugeot staple of chrome-ringed dials and a chrome and leather trimmed gear knob are also evident. Thankfully the steering wheel is a little better looking than some of the blandly bulging tillers fitted to many Peugeots. Some thought has gone into this cabin.

The simple view that this car will stand or fall on the basis of its styling perhaps underestimates Peugeot's appreciation of what today's medium-range saloon customer is after. In a market where conservatism has traditionally been the watchword, the 407 looks like a breath of fresh air. What's more, it makes the latest Audi, BMW and Mercedes junior executive models look like the conservative old guard. The 407 2.2-litre emerges as a car that's genuinely desirable in ways you would never have originally expected. Challenging, surprising, and beautifully built will be more than enough to give Peugeot a sizeable slice of the cake.

TOP 4 407 DEALS

The results below show the top 407 deals on buyacar

	Peugeot 407 2.2 Sport Multimedia 5dr SW Estate
	ETR	Mthly	Saving £4,571	Price £16,469
	Peugeot 407 2.2 Sport Multimedia 4dr Saloon
	ETR	Mthly	Saving £4,267	Price £15,573
	Peugeot 407 2.2 Sport 2dr Coupe
	ETR	Mthly £348	Saving £1,683	Price £19,057
	Peugeot 407 2.2 Sport Multimedia 2dr Coupe
	ETR	Mthly	Saving £1,794	Price £19,941

typical 11.71% APR

PCP finance quote over 48 months,  10,000 miles pa,  deposit of £1000