THE LION'S SHARE

The British market's appetite for crossover-infused executive models appears unsated, and Peugeot wants in on the action. Vicky Parrott compares the new 408 with two rival oddballs 

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When is a niche no longer a niche? Don't worry, I'm not about to go all Descartes on you. It's just that we've been calling the crossover/fastback/ jacked-up hatchback/dropped SUV in-betweener brigade 'niche' for a long time, yet there's such demand for it and its members are so numerous that, frankly, it's not really niche any more, is it? Which brings me to our test.

You want something fun and a bit executive-posh, but you want it to be different; you want it to be a bit attention-grabbing. Let's face it, you want anything - anything - but a grey Audi A4, BMW 3 Series or Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

With that in mind, we've gathered together a trio of midsized 'alternative' executives, with the Peugeot 408 being the newest offering. It's based on Stellantis's EMP2 platform and presents itself as an almost Lamborghini Uruslike amalgamation of angular lines, straked lights and black plastic frippery. Oddly, it works rather well. We're trying it here in 1.2-litre petrol guise, which is the cheapest of the powertrains on offer and, handily, our pick of the range.

The oddballs to beat arrive in the shape of the Cupra Formentor, which is arguably the most conventional car here. As a midsized hatchback/SUV crossover, it has a more flamboyant feel than its Volkswagen Group brethren, and we like it a lot. As with the Peugeot, the Formentor is offered with a wide range of engine options, including plug-in hybrid, but here we've chosen the mid-range, 188bhp 2.0-litre, complete with four-wheel drive and in V2 trim. All of that means it strikes the middle ground for performance and price between the 408, which is the most affordable, and our next protagonist, the most expensive.