• Strictly a five seater
• Wide doors enable easy access
• Flat boot with very little lip

It might look pretty big in pictures, but it is in fact a strict five-seater. It’s easily large enough for a family with a couple of children, but just don’t expect Land Rover Defender levels of space.

The rear doors open nice and wide, great for getting children’s seats into and out of, and the rear seats can also recline which helps to make long journeys less taxing for those on the rear bench.

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Boot space and storage

Unlike some plug-in hybrid rivals (such as the Toyota RAV4 and Kia Sportage), electrified versions of the DS 7 don’t sacrifice any boot capacity to make space for the battery and motors. Both the diesel and PHEV variants have 555 litres of space with the rear seats in place and 1,752 litres with the bench folded flat. That puts it in the middle of the class, ahead of the Volkswagen Tiguan and BMW X1, but well behind the Land Rover Discovery Sport.

More expensive models get an electric tailgate. Cheaper models still get a button on the key fob, but it merely pops the boot open rather than fully extends it.

How easy is it to park?

Visibility straight ahead is good. You sit very high up and the pillars at the front of the car are relatively slim when compared with rivals.

Rear visibility isn’t brilliant, but the same can be said of most modern cars. All models come with parking sensors, but base spec cars don’t come with a rear view camera. This is a bit of a shame because it’s well positioned and renders very clearly on the car’s infotainment screen.

How safe is the DS 7?

• Not tested by Euro NCAP yet
• Lots of safety kit
• Previous model received five stars

Euro NCAP hasn’t tested the DS 7 yet. But, when the old DS 7 Crossback was scrutinised under the previous system in 2017, it was awarded a five-star rating. Just remember that newer five-star SUVs such as the Mercedes-Benz GLC could fare better in an accident.

Every version of the DS 7 comes with driver and front passenger airbags plus curtain airbags in the front and rear rows. DS also equips every model with its Advanced Safety Pack. This collection of equipment includes useful features such as Blind Spot Detection, which acts as an extra set of eyes for what’s coming up from behind.

The company’s Extended Road Sign Recognition system helps you know the speed limit, while Lane Keeping Assist can stop you from drifting out of your lane. However, we found this latter system could get confused on narrow roads.

The most expensive Opera and La Premiere versions also feature DS’s Drive Assist package. This adds adaptive cruise control and allows for semi-autonomous driving in certain traffic situations.