2010 Peugeot 3008 officially unveiled

By Robert Adams on January 14th, 2009

Peugeot officially presented new 3008 crossover today. This is a brand new type of vehicle for the French automaker as they claim.

A blend of relatively compact external measures with spacious interior is not rare thing these days, but Peugeot somehow missed that niche if you don’t count Peugeot’s 308 SW and 407 SW estates.

Some sources predicted this new 3008 to become a direct competitor to Nissan’s successful Qashqai. Well, they were right except for one thing, which is an absence of 4 wheel drive system on 3008. The only chance for us to see this car with 4 powered wheels is to wait till 2011 when it’s hybrid version comes to market. Thus, this car is rather to battle with Renault Scenic, Volkswagen Touran, Opel Zafira and the rest despite of brave attempt to look like a SUV, which it is not absolutely.

This trick can be explained easily if you remember that Citroen, which is a sister company to Peugeot (together they belong to PSA) was appointed to make van-like cars while Peugeot should be taking more traditional market segments. Hence we have Citroen C4 Picasso built on the same platform as 3008, and the 3008 itself, while the latter according to PSA marketing managers is rather a little 4007 crossover than a twin of Picasso.

Peugeot 3008 is based on extended platform used for popular 308 hatchbacks and offers very spacious (Multiflex system) and very nice interior with driver-oriented cockpit. 3008 is a five-seat car, although the extended 7-seat version will follow very soon. From the outside car looks pretty nice featuring Peugeot-traditional giant headlamps and nice triangle taillights. It looks especially well if ordered with optional off-road design elements.

The design could be described with words fresh, but not radical new. Peugeot 3008 is a front-wheel drive car with a choice of 2 diesel engines and 1 petrol engine. The smaller diesel is a 1.6 (110 bhp) unit combined with 6-speed manual gearbox (optionally with robo-switch) and the second diesel is a large 2.0 liter heart offered as a 150 bhp version if joined with 6-speed manual or 163 bhp if matched with 6-speed automatic. There is also a petrol 1.6 liter engine co-developed with BMW and used at MINIs, which produces from 120 to 156 bhp depending on version (matched with manual gearboxes only).

Peugeot 3008 offers a wide option list that includes a Head-up display, Parking assist, Distance alert, Hill start assist, huge glass roof and many more. The aforementioned hybrid 3008 will use a diesel engine with electric motor and batteries added. Electric motor will be supplying power to the rear wheels, making this car a 4-wheel driven finally. The only problem that Peugeot still hasn’t solved is a pure quality of cars. This can make a hard live for 3008 outside Western Europe if they decide to go further as people will rather choose models from Japanese competitors.

First commercial for the new Peugeot 3008: