The marketing both emphasises the Germanic nature of the car, as if it will be one of its main selling points, and plays down the ‘papimobile’ tag they fear might be its inheritance. I feel their hopes and fears are misplaced. Shunning the ‘papi’ and ‘mami’ market lacks commercial logic – grandparents, freed from the cost of child raising, buy nicer cars. Citroën would do better to target its devotees and those who want a French car. If someone wants to buy a German car, they will do so; nothing will persuade them to buy a Citroën, even one which has been built to beat the Germans at their own game.

The long nose and fussy detailing of the new C5 are all Citroën, as is the ride, especially with the hydractive suspension. You can see the French touch in the interior too: when you slide the front seats back you see that the screws holding the rails in place do not match the metal – something which would have teams of German white coated R&D experts rushing in to analyse what went wrong.

As someone who took his driving test in a DS, I have always had a soft spot for Citroëns with their supple suspension and even softer seats. Although the new C5 is about the same length as the famous old DS, the soft seats have gone, I am afraid, at least in the ‘dynamique’ version test car. Softer seats, called ‘bien-être’, are available.

Gone too are the two simple controls to adjust the seats. It took time to set the multiple controls to my liking and even then I found myself wishing for the big, soft pillow seats in French cars of old.

The DS I took my driving test in had a version of the single-spoke steering wheel only ever found in Citroëns, and the new C5 keeps the tradition of unusual steering wheels, taking the fixed centre wheel from the C4. It means that controls for the sound and other systems fall to hand easily and it works very well.

Anyone who has an older version of the C5 will find the cabin a bit of a shock. For all its faults, the old C5 had a lot of space for driver and passengers, and there is less room in the new model. The boot, though, at 439 litres, is still generous and a concave rear window means that the boot opening is huge, giving ease of loading to rival a hatchback’s. If more space is needed, the back seats fold.

Quirky speedometers were another old Citroën trait, with rolling drums and graph-like graphics doing the job of boring dials found in other models. Again the new C5 takes up the theme, with the pointer of the speedo and rev counters moving around the edge of their dials, leaving the interiors free for extra computer screens. The test car was in top of the range Exclusive trim with a GPS and sound system sharing a large screen.

For functions which could not be operated from the steering wheel, there was a multitude of small and difficult-touse buttons on the central console.

Like any modern car with sophisticated electronics, it takes time to familiarise yourself with the system. Once the electronics were forgotten, the car was a delight to drive.

Due no doubt to that German influence, its suspension was harder than in Citroëns of old, but it still soaked up the bumps in a way only Rolls Royces can equal and kept the car flat during hard cornering. Pressing a ‘sport’ button can further enhance this feature but seems a silly thing to do when the normal settings are so efficient anyway.

Diesel engines all have filter particles and start with the 1.6 litre 110HP HDi unit, followed by the 2 litre 138HP model, and at the top of the range the 2.2 litre 173HP model with a manual gearbox or the 2.7 litre V6, only available with an automatic box. There are also four petrol engines of corresponding horsepower.

On the road, the power of the 173HP unit in the test car took a bit of adjusting to. At first I found myself over-revving and thought it was making a lot of noise until I realised I was near the red line.

Once I had found how to use the sixspeed gearbox to best advantage, there were ample reserves of power and the cabin was quiet at all legal speeds. The power comes at the price of fuel consumption, with the official figures giving 8.8 litres per 100km for mixed driving compared to 7.9 litres per 100km for the 138HP version.

The emphasis on quality does seem to have paid off. Only when driven fast over very bumpy country roads was there a hint of a squeak from the cabin fittings, which I suspect was only a chafing rear seat belt fastener.

Fortunately, Citroën has not decided to follow the Germans down the road of high prices. The C5 starts, with steel springs and not hydractive, at €21,500 plus a Malus of €750 for the cheapest petrol version, while the first diesel starts at €23,600 and escapes the eco tax. Top of the range petrol and diesel models are €34,150 and €37,950 respectively and each attract €1,600 Malus.

Estate versions, called ‘Tourer’ in Citroën marketing speak, cost €1,000 extra.