Jaguar XF vs Peugeot 408

What's the difference?

With that iron fist wrapped in a velvet glove wrapped in bubble wrap engine, excellent ride and gorgeous looks, the XF Sportbrake ticks all the boxes. Apart from the entry price and options prices, there are few objective reasons not to buy the car. It's just as good as any of its German competition and arguably the prettiest of the lot.

Should Jaguar have taken the dive? Given the XF Sportbrake is a luxury wagon done right, yes.

The Peugeot 408 GT Hybrid delivers heaps of standard equipment and safety tech for what is now a much more competitive price. It’s also super fuel-efficient, which is right for these turbulent times, offers thoughtful practicality and the wagon-fastback-crossover-SUV look is striking. The price paid for miserly economy is a peaky small-engine powertrain and the ownership promise isn’t exactly class-leading. That said, it deserves consideration in its new, even more competitive under $60K mid-size SUV segment.

The second-generation XF is a very pretty car. A few carmakers have a had a crack at that four-door coupe idea, but Jaguar's Ian Callum got it right first go. You might expect the wagon to be a bit dumpy but it's far from it. That's not to say wagons can't be good looking - many are better-looking than the car they're based on (the weirdly proportioned Golf wagon being the exception to the rule). The XF sedan just looks right.

Anyway, the Sportbrake is basically the same until behind the B-pillar, with the roof continuing on to steeply raked tailgate glass. Obviously the lights are different back there but it's a nicely integrated job, it doesn't look like a dodgy extension. Rolling on the optional 20-inch wheels it looks amazing - low, long and well-proportioned. Unfortunately, it's more than vaguely hearse-like in black (the only First Edition colour).

Inside is standard XF, with the obvious exception of the rear seats and the big open load area. With this First Edition's glass roof the cabin seems infinite. Either way it's big and comfortable, although fit and finish could be a bit tighter.

Peugeot Design Director Matthias Hossann has been guiding the brand’s look and feel since 2020 and the result is a recognisable approach across the range with enough flexibility to give each model its own personality.

Recurring themes include the dramatic, fan-like grille with body-colour elements, narrow angled LED daytime running lights (DRLs) slicing through the outer edges of the nose and sinister tapered headlights set into the front corners.

The rear end maintains the visual drama with a stacked, angular treatment sectioning off the ‘Claw Effect’ LED tail-lights (the Peugeot brand mark is a Lion), chamfered mid-section and chunky bumper.

And among what increasingly feels like a mass of same-same newcomers the 408’s sloping turret and high, wide haunches give the car a distinctively sporty fastback look.

The interior is classy and clean although the almost uniformly grey colour palette is unrelenting.

The two-tier dash adds visual interest and a combination of sweeping curves and clean, straight lines around the cabin lift the tone. Nappa leather trim with the ribbed seat centre panels using perforated hide also looks classy.

But then we come to the ‘iCockpit’ instrument display and steering wheel combination. It’s based on the idea that reducing the size of the steering wheel and lowering its position while flattening its top and raising the location of the instrument binnacle is a better solution than the traditional look-through-the-steering wheel approach.

It doesn’t work for everyone and it doesn’t work for me. As noted in previous Peugeot reviews, after more than a decade in existence various members of the CarsGuide editorial staff continue to struggle with the arrangement, while others love it. 

For me, the wheel feels too low, yet the top of it obscures the lower part of the instrument panel. While it may work well for others I see it as the answer to a question no one was asking.

Front and rear passengers enjoy plenty of space. Storage includes a not-quite-big-enough-for-a-phone tray ahead of the rotary dial gear selector and a pair of cupholders. Those in the rear have plenty of space, except for the middle seat occupant who must straddle a stout transmission tunnel. The rear armrest holds a pair of cupholders and the doors have slim pockets.

The boot holds 565 litres with the seats in place and "up to" 1700 litres with the seats down - that latter figure does not feel like a VDA number.

At close to 4.7m long, around 1.9m wide and a bit less than 1.5m tall with a 2790mm wheelbase, the 408 sits in the middle of the typical mid-size five-seater footprint.

Ample room in the front, although the lower section of the two-tier dash protrudes a fair way towards the driver and front passenger and the centre console is broad so it feels snug rather than airy.

Storage includes generous door bins with room for larger bottles, a lidded (and illuminated) bin between the seats that doubles as a centre armrest, two cupholders in the console with an oddments tray ahead of them and a decent glove box with an extra pocket built into the lid.

Switching to the rear, sitting behind the driver’s seat set for my 183cm position, there’s loads of leg- and headroom and enough width for three adults when required and more than enough for a trio of up to mid-teenage kids. Centre rear is less of a short-straw position, too, thanks to a relatively low and flat central tunnel.

The lack of a fold-down rear centre armrest is a miss mainly because it means there are no cupholders in the rear. But there are decent door bins with a space for smaller bottles, netted map pockets on the front seatbacks and a storage cubby at the back of the front centre console.

Speaking of which, individual air vents in the back of that console are a welcome addition.

 The boot is large for the class at 508 litres (VDA) with the rear seat upright and 1583 litres with the 60/40 split-folding backrest folded down. The power tailgate (with foot sensor and pedestrian detection) also makes life easier.

Other thoughtful touches include four load tie-down anchors, a netted pocket on the right-hand side, elasticised straps on the left-hand side, specific lighting and a pair of bag hooks.

Power and connectivity options include two USB-C sockets, a 12-volt outlet and a wireless phone charging pad in the front, another two USB-Cs in the back and a second 12V plug in the boot. So no problems with charging capacity for phones and other devices.

Maximum braked trailer towing capacity is a useful 1300kg (750kg unbraked) but we have to put a big black mark against provision of a repair/inflator kit rather than a physical spare. Not good enough for the Aussie market. 

The previous plug-in version of the current 408 Hybrid was a 1.6-litre, turbo-petrol, four-cylinder paired with a relatively large electric motor and cost-of-entry sat at $67,990, before on-road costs.

A shift to this car’s mild-hybrid powertrain, built around a 1.2-litre, turbo-petrol, three-cylinder engine matched up with an appreciably smaller battery and electric motor coincided with a 15 per cent ($10,000) price reduction to $57,990, BOC.

Convenience or consequence? Either way, it’s opened up a new competitive set with the focus shifting from the likes of the Lexus NX, Mazda CX-60 PHEV and Volvo XC60 to a fresh batch of sub-$60K rivals.

Think Honda CR-V e:HEV RS ($59,900, drive-away), Hyundai Tucson AWD 1.6 Hybrid Premium ($58,350, BOC), Kia Sportage GT-Line HEV FWD ($57,370, BOC), Nissan X-Trail Ti e-Power 5 seat AWD ($58,215, BOC), Subaru Forester AWD Hybrid Touring ($55,990, BOC) and the Toyota RAV4 XSE Hybrid AWD ($59,015, BOC).

Suddenly the Peugeot’s included features list sits in a new context and aside from the performance and safety tech we’ll get to shortly, standard equipment highlights include dual-zone climate control air, full-grain Nappa leather seat trim, a leather-trimmed (heated) steering wheel, Alcantara door trim, 3D satellite navigation and 10-speaker 690-watt Focal audio (with digital radio) as well as wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Then there’s power-adjustable driver (eight-way) and front passenger (six-way) seats that are also heated with a ‘multi-point’ massage function, keyless entry and start, a 10-inch digital 3D instrument panel, a 10-inch multimedia touchscreen, auto LED matrix headlights, eight-colour ambient lighting, chrome trimmed pedals, a power tailgate, heated power-folding exterior mirrors, a panoramic glass sunroof, 19-inch alloy wheels, auto rain-sensing wipers and more. 

Then you can add over-the-air updates, access to remote services via the ‘MyPeugeot’ app and ‘Ok Peugeot’ voice recognition.

That’s an impressive basket of fruit for an under-$60,000 car. 

The First Edition ships with Jaguar's 3.0-litre twin-turbo diesel V6. Good for 221kW and a prodigious 700Nm, power heads to the rear wheels via an eight-speed ZF automatic.

With all that power and torque, the XF Sportbrake cracks 100km/h from rest in 6.6 seconds.

The air suspension means you can tow up to 2000kg with a braked trailer.

The Peugeot 408 Hybrid is powered by a 1.2-litre, turbo-petrol, three-cylinder engine producing 100kW at 5500rpm and 230Nm at 1750rpm.

This compact, all-alloy, direct-injection unit works in concert with a single 15.6kW/51Nm 48-volt electric motor integrated into the six-speed dual-clutch auto transmission and energised by a 0.9kWh lithium-ion battery.

Drive goes to the front wheels only and Peugeot claims a 0-100kmh sprint time of 9.4 seconds.

Jaguar claims a combined-cycle figure of 5.9L/100km. Our time with it was mostly shuttling around the suburbs with a couple of highway runs and we managed a respectable 8.3L/100km.

The 408 Hybrid’s official fuel consumption figure for the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle is 4.5L/100km, the 1.2L turbo triple emitting 102g/km of CO2 in the process.

And it’s important to point out those official (ADR 81/02) numbers for the 408’s consumption and emissions are better than any of the direct competitors we’ve called out in the ‘Price & Features’ section above. 

Over a week of mainly city and suburban running with some freeway sections thrown in, we recorded an on-test average of 6.0L/100km. Impressive for a mid-size crossover weighing in at a bit over 1.4 tonnes.

Brim the 52-litre tank with minimum 95 RON premium fuel (ethanol blends not recommended) and using our real-world figure you can expect a handy driving range in excess of 860km.

There's no getting away from the size and heft of the Sportbrake. Where a four-cylinder sedan comes in under 1600kg - not bad for an almost five-metre-long car - up here at the top it's well over 1800kg. With big wheels and a long wheelbase it's not going to win any wards for manoeuvrability, with a big turning circle and a length that's challenging to shopping centre car parks.

The 3.0 V6 twin-turbo is a fantastic unit. It can be a bit noisy when cold but it's super smooth and with all that torque it crushes overtaking with little need for advanced planning. The Sportbrake wafts along, lazily turning over in traffic and keeping the vibe calm.

Despite those big wheels, the ride is excellent. Even when in Sport mode, it's a rare bump or surface that will cause drama. It's very comfortable and very quiet, almost to the level of the XJ limo.

If you do fancy a bit of amusement, the V6 and well-sorted chassis are ready to play. In reality, Sport mode is where both myself and my wife left the car the whole time we had it. Both of us found the steering a little too light and preferred the more lively throttle response. The XF features torque vectoring using the brakes and coupled with a well-judged stability and traction control system, it delivers a good impression of a sporty sedan.

But the XF is best when you keep it relaxed. Both in town and in the cruise, it's a lovely, quiet place to be and a relaxing, undemanding drive. 

Only a couple of things were annoying - the light steering we've already covered. The heated windscreen was more reflection-prone so the head-up display could be hard to see in some lighting conditions. And sometimes it beeped for no apparent reason, which I eventually traced to the blind-spot warning.

Even with the assistance of an electric motor in the transmission and a turbo on the engine, a 1.2-litre, petrol three-cylinder powering a more than 1.4-tonne five-seat car is always going to be an interesting equation.

And in practice, although the small triple’s peak torque (230Nm) is available from just 1750rpm it lacks the smoothness of larger capacity mild- and full-hybrid combinations. Especially at slower speeds, the powertrain feels relatively edgy and agitated.

Outright acceleration is fine (claimed 0-100km/h acceleration is 9.4sec) with decent mid-range pulling power for confident overtaking or decisive lane changing (a 15.6kW/51Nm boost from the motor playing its part) and the dual-clutch auto is a more polished example of what can be a fractious device. 

But engineering and tuning for maximum fuel-efficiency has an impact on driveability. For example, we noticed the air-conditioning system’s output softened at standstill, which led to some mild window fogging in stop-start traffic on a particularly humid morning. Haven’t seen that for a while. 

The strut front, torsion beam rear suspension delivers a compliant ride and responsive handling in classic Peugeot fashion. The steering in particular points accurately and provides good road feel. 

We’ve covered the intricacies of the i-Cockpit instrument and steering wheel configuration in the Design section as its shortcomings (for me, anyway) are more ergonomic than dynamic.  

The car is relatively quiet, thanks in part to sound-dampening acoustic glass and the Michelin e.Primacy tyres (205/55) which also grip persistently if you decide to slice through your favourite set of corners. Push the engine harder and it’s revvy note and exhaust rasp will start to make their presence felt. 

Regenerative braking is helpful and the physical brakes (ventilated discs and the front and solid rotors at the rear) are nice and progressive.

The front seats are firmer than the Peugeot norm but remain comfy enough and they provide enough side support to keep you well located. 

Despite the swoopy fastback design, all-around vision is surprisingly good and an overall length under 4.7m, an acceptable 11.2m turning circle, a clear reversing camera and a 360-degree camera view make parking straightforward. 

The 408 has a maximum five-star ANCAP rating from assessment in 2022 with active crash avoidance tech including Auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and cyclist detection, junction assist and backover detection, adaptive cruise (with stop & go), lane departure warning and lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition, a 360-degree camera view, rear cross-traffic alert, forward collision warning, driver fatigue monitoring and tyre pressure monitoring as well as front and rear parking sensors.

If a crash is unavoidable there are six airbags onboard (front, front side and side curtain) but a front centre bag is notable for its absence. 

On the upside, an active bonnet helps protect impacted pedestrians from striking hard engine parts under the bonnet and multi-collision brake minimises the chances of subsequent impact after an initial crash. 

For child seats there are three top tether points across the second row with ISOFIX anchors in the outer positions.

Jaguars are offered with a three-year/100,000km warranty with a matching roadside-assist package. You can purchase a five-year/130,000km service plan for an oddly reasonable $2200. Even more reasonable are the service intervals - 12 months or 26,000km (!).

Peugeot covers the 408 with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which is perilously close to sub-par in 2026 with an increasing number of brands at seven, eight and up to 10 years conditional. The battery warranty at eight years/160,000km matches the market.

Roadside assistance is included for five years, service is recommended every 12 months/15,000km and pre-paid servicing is offered across three-, four- or five-year plans, with the latter at $2070.

That’s a not insubstantial average of $414 per workshop visit, which Peugeot says will save you $893 compared to pay-as-you-go over the five years.

For reference, a Toyota RAV Hybrid service for any of the first five years is $260, although pricing steps up after that period.

Peugeot has a well established network of 31 dealers mainly covering major cities and key rural areas, primarily on the east coast. Currently, no presence in Tassie or the Northern Territory, while Perth and Adelaide are the only representation in WA and SA.