THE Peugeot 607 diesel appears to offer everything a fleet driver could want - including good handling, lots of standard equipment and looks. But the question still remains: can it cut the mustard in the badge-conscious world of the premium upper-medium fleet car?

Only time and how effective Peugeot is at controlling supply and demand - plus how reliable the vehicle is over the next year or so - will tell, although I suspect that however good it is, it still won't be able to hold its own alongside the badges of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Jaguar.

If style alone was the only consideration, then this Peugeot would win hands down judging by the comments of everyone who has seen it or been a passenger in it. And it has all the gizmos expected in this sector - reverse parking sensor, electric memory driver's seat, cruise control, automatic transmission with tiptronic, automatic dipping rear-view mirror … the list goes on.

The 607 also has automatic headlamps. Although I can see the benefits of the safety aspect, I'm not totally convinced of their logic. On a sunny drive to work, at about 7am when the sun is low, one particular stretch of road is shaded by trees in several places, causing the lights to come on, then go off when there is a break in the trees and come on again when they begin again, all of which I find annoying. To be fair to Peugeot, though, you can switch off this facility.

The same applies to the rain-sensitive wipers, but Peugeot is not alone in receiving my criticism: most manufacturers' vehicles with this option suffer in the same way - they only seem to rarely wipe effectively in relation to the amount of water on the screen. But the two-memory driver's seat is another story. It's perfect when two of you drive the car, as I suspect is the case in most households.

The only unscheduled expense we've encountered is £220, which includes fitting a new fog lamp, replacing the pollen filter and a 10,000-mile service. Reasonable compared to others in the 607's class. In our last report, John Maslen commented on the size of the car's boot. To back this up, myself and three friends spent a weekend in France and the boot swallowed with ease all our luggage, plus the extra items (mainly booze!) we brought back for my half-century celebrations this month.

The car has been well received in its home country if the attention it attracted is anything to go by. Several times we parked and within minutes a crowd had gathered round it, with most passing favourable comments.

Finally, the only other thing I can find to criticise is that the automatic gearchange is jerky occasionally. A small point and one which doesn't detract from the overall driving experience of Peugeot's re-entry into this sector.