Peugeot 308: More than just a number - Buying and owning

There'll be five trim options in the UK, echoing the Urban, S, Sport, SE and GT line-up introduced with 207.

Prices are expected to range between £13,000 and £19,000 when the 308 comes on sale here in September.

The two lower-specification models will have different grilles and rear bumpers to those higher up the range.

A panoramic sunroof, two-tone interiors, mood lighting, a single-disc sat-nav system with a folding screen, a hard drive that can store 180 hours of music, a lane-change warning system and up to nine airbags will give you the option of personaling the car and pampering and protecting yourself and your family.

Three-door versions will join the range in December, and by 2009 there'll also be estate (SW) and coupe-cabriolet (CC) versions.

It seems inconceivable that a GTi won't be added as well – that 1.6 turbo engine has been cranked up to deliver more than 200bhp for Mini.

Whether Peugeot will add compact MPV and 4x4 models, in line with chairman Christian Streiff's dictat to launch more models more quickly, remains to be seen.

One final thought, though: what happens when it's time to replace the 308 in seven or eight years? Peugeot's already done a 309, back in the 1980s.