Peugeot 2008 is shaping up!

Text: Tom Philips / Photos: Auto Plus

September 2010

Is this the new Peugeot 2008? According to our French sister magazine Auto Plus, which caught this show star totally undisguised at a photoshoot in a remote corner of Iceland, this is our first glimpse at how an all- new supermini SUV could look.

Peugeot disputes this, though. It claims that the high-riding three-door, which was supposed to stay under wraps until the Paris show, doesn’t preview a specific car.

Instead, the newcomer showcases design themes that will appear on the next generation of Peugeot’s small cars, beginning with the 208. The low-down angle of the pictures makes the car look a lot bigger than it is, but also contributing to the effect are oversized alloys that are pushed right out to the corners of the body and shrouded by muscular arches.
 
Featuring the same angled-back A-pillar as seen on the firm’s BB1 electric car, the new machine also develops design themes from the SR1 concept from Geneva earlier this year. These include angular scoops in the rear bumper, sharply styled boomerang tail-lights and a tick- shaped crease in the door panel.

Expect the wheel-at-each-corner look to extend to the 208 to help increase cabin space, while the elegant lines favoured by design chief Gilles Vidal are also likely to make it to production. With Peugeot aiming to become the world’s seventh biggest car maker by 2015, climbing from its current position of 10th, the new 208 will spawn a family that adopts these design cues.

As well as three and five-door hatchbacks and a folding hard-top CC, a supermini-MPV to rival the Kia Venga is likely. The firm already offers the 4007, while a smaller crossover based on the Mitsubishi ASX is expected next year. A 208-based mini-SUV would take on the new Nissan Juke.