You might wonder at the wisdom of the Car of the Year judging panel in this year’s shortlist voting, which saw Peugeot’s 508 in and BMW’s 3-series out. You might think that if you have one of these cars in any sort of shortlist you should really have the other, but I’ve never understood the mind of a Coty judge – in spite of the fact I count myself among that number.

Nevertheless Peugeot is ecstatic; Nicholas Bayon, its chief communications officer, could scarcely keep the glee out of his voice, especially as the Coty shortlist announcement coincided with the launch of the SW estate version of the Coty contender.

Like the saloon/hatchback, this is a good-looking car, especially the front end,...