IMAGE RATING

SELLING expensive French cars is not easy. Basically, you make your new big Citroen, Peugeot or Renault, sell a load to the president and French government, and then the problem starts.

Just over five years ago, Citroen had a brainwave – create a separate brand and put its badge on your more expensive models. Like Toyota did when it invented Lexus in the late 1980s.

Currently, there are two DS models on sale, the DS3 Crossback and the bigger DS7 Crossback, both of which are SUVS.

The two newest versions are the DS3 E-tense, which is a battery electric vehicle (or BEV), and the DS7 E-tense, which is a plug-in hybrid. The latter is the car that we’re testing this week.

If there’s a car that will be the litmus test as to whether you can charge premium money for a French motor this is it.

Our test car is in Ultra Prestige spec and that carries with it a price tag of £56,075, which puts it right in among pretty serious competition from German companies. But let’s examine the metal itself.

The DS7 uses the same platform that’s used for the Peugeot 3008 but with an extra 100mm added to the vehicle’s overall length.

Underneath the bonnet is a 197bhp 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine that’s used in other DS7S and across the PSA range.

To this is added a 108bhp motor which, like the petrol drives the front wheels.

There’s another 108bhp electric motor mounted to the rear axle which, when the car is pure EV mode, drives the rear wheels.

The E-tense version is the only DS7

REAR MIRROR MONSTER: You might recognise the badge in the grille.

BACKSIDE BEAUTY: Posh looking car, front and back.

PLAYTIME PLEASER: Jewel-like switches.

NAUGHTY NIGGLES: Not as comfortable over bumps as it should be.