The French car makers have always been innovative. Citroen is the premier example. But there have been many French cars which so tragically under-performed in all respects, despite innovative design.
There have been some good cars, without a doubt, and in latter years the quality control and general integrity of the things came on a big bunch or more.
My 406 was knocking on for eight years old when it laid down its life to preserve mine back in June 2009. And everything worked perfectly until then. 60mph frontal collisions don't do much for the car's longevity
Germans have always been known for superb build quality. Probably fairly so. But there are so many decent cars now that it's hard to get nationalistic about it.
My E39 is superbly built yet it's getting on in years and despite this everything in this car works perfectly as well. It's comfortable and doesn't chew fuel, handles well, stops well and goes well. But, is it:---
Innovative? No.
Exciting? No.
Better than the 406? Well, it's a more desireable badge to own if you like that sort of thing, but I'm not sure it's a better car as such. The BMW is not as lavishly equipped as the Pug (was
), it's not massively quieter, it's no more spacious, it's not as quick. So I could argue that the similarities outweigh the differences, such was the build quality of my Peugeot, at least.
Maybe that's the crux of it?
406 build quality was variable at best, I just got lucky with a very good one.
E39 build quality was consistently excellent and never varied.
The jury is out, I propose.