In an ever changing world, brand’s like Peugeot need to keep up with the trends. The most recent evidence that the company knows how to do such a thing comes in the form of the all-new Peugeot 5008. What was once an ugly little MPV that looked like a poorly designed minivan has been morphed into a full-fledged SUV with stylish looks that rival that of larger and more popular brands – even here in the U.S. Boasting the best generational redesign that I’ve seen in years, the new 5008 features a long, muscular hood, sporty side profile, sexy rear end, luxurious interior, a host of driver assistance features, and handful of powerful and efficient engines. In short, the new 5008 is finally the SUV it was always meant to be.

The new 5008 is set to make its debut at the Paris Auto Show, but Peugeot couldn’t wait to show the public its latest creation and decided to drop a decent collection of photos and some fresh information. We don’t know everything yet – in fact, Peugeot hasn’t even divulged any major engine information, so there’s plenty more to come. But, we still have a lot to talk about, so let’s go over what we know now and speculate a little about what we don’t know.

Continue reading to learn more about the Peugeot 5008.

Exterior

I’ve got to say that the difference between the old 5008 and this all-new model is unbelievable. It’s like Peugeot threw away everything it new about making MPVs and got a doctorate in designing SUVS. The hood features a very prominent shoulder on each side with a razor sharp edge that just screams dominance. The front grille is sleek and sexy with its chrome finish, and those horizontal slats offer the impression of width. Down below there is a large corner air intake on each side, also outlined with chrome trim. Fog lights are positioned ever so elegantly in the lower outside corners of those vents. The air dam between the vents is actually a bit wider than the radiator grille.

Now, the plastic mesh used for the air dam and corner vents is a little cheapish, but at the same time adding more chrome here would have been a bit much. A silver trim insert is positioned just below the air dam, which also features a small horizontal vent. This looks like it could also be a skid plate, which hints to some off-road capability. Meanwhile, the headlights have a unique design with a large cut out in the lower center of the light. There’s an LED strip that runs along the inner and upper edge of the headlight lenses. In all reality, the headlights, grille, and those large air vents all seem to go together very well and speak volumes for the amount of time Peugeot put into the design.

Moving over to the side, the 5008 finally has some sex appeal to speak of. A weird clear insert separates the side of the hood from the fender – this somewhat resembles the LED stripe from the headlight lenses. A gorgeous body line starts off on the side of the front fascia and curves toward the rear and shoots back, in line with the door handles, all the way to the outermost point of the taillights. Here’s the cool thing, though. Peugeot did something that we don’t see very often. That body line transitions to being almost smooth as it crosses the doors, and gets sharper again after the rear door handle. It’s a unique design and really makes the new 5008 standouts in a world full of SUVs.

The doors feature some nice cladding at the bottom which matches the cladding that follows the contour of the front and rear fascia and the wheel wells. It looks like there is also some chrome trim positioned above the cladding, leading way to a three-dimensional look of depth. The belt line elevates a bit as you move from the front to the rear. With the windows outlined in chrome, it really stands out. The rear quarter glass is actually a little shorter than the rest and, while the roof really doesn’t slant that much in the rear, the overall side profile creates an illusion that it does – one of the few things that really lends a glance into the past. The rear glass is blacked out for privacy, and it looks like there are two moonroof panels situated between those stylish and chrome luggage racks up top.

Moving to the back, there is a decent overhang on the rear hatch. While it’s not something that can be seen from road level, there are also two body lines that transition from the roof to the overhang. I highly doubt it’s something we’ll see, but it almost looks like this overhang could be adjustable for better rear end downforce. This is usually something reserved for more expensive and luxurious models, but Peugeot has already surprised me a lot with this model already, so I’m not quite ready to discount the theory yet.

Around back, the sexiness continues with one of the best rear end designs I’ve ever seen. The rear glass is small but curved on the sides. The taillights are futuristic, stylish, and worth of a more expensive name. Small units around mounted on each rear corner, protruding from the body by about an inch in the rear. The lens is tinted and features a single light bar on the back side. The taillights continue on the hatch with the same tinted nature and two more light bars within the lens on each side. Reverse lights are hidden on the bottom of quarter-mounted lenses and look to be perfectly aimed at the ground. The lower portion of the hatch is rather smooth and uneventful, however the license plate recess is stylish and set rather deep in the hatch. Down below the rear fascia is made up of the same black cladding that we see on the doors and around the wheel arches, however, there is a sleek chrome strip on the very top of the fascia. There’s a red reflector nestled into each corner, and down below a stylish, diffuser-like element mimics that trim insert from the front fascia. The rear exhaust outlets are integrated into this rear trim insert.

While the model appears to be large, it’s actually compact and one of the best-looking c-segment SUVs out there at just 15.22 feet long. For the record, that’s a growth of 4.33 inches over the previous generation 5008 and nearly 7.5-inches longer than its little brother the 3008. All told, this is a revolutionary design for the 5008 and a massive improvement over the previous model. Well done, Peugeot.

Interior

We’ve only got one shot of the interior so far, and holy crap is this thing futuristic. For having a sexy and down-to-earth exterior, the inside makes the Trekkie in me a giggle and cringe with joy. To put it simply, this thing is a personal space shuttle on the inside. The first thing I noticed is the oddly shaped, two-tiered dash. The upper level is mostly flat but is slightly slanted giving an outrageous feeling of length. Recessed but protruding from the upper level is a very futuristic 12.3-inch instrument cluster that puts anything from Mercedes or Audi to shame. In the center is a display screen that shows GPS navigation and speed. It actually looks somewhat similar to the maps shown on Tesla instrument clusters, but I actually like this design a little better. There are vertically oriented digital gauges on each side of the center display to provide information regarding fuel, engine temperature, and the like. This upper tier of the dash is also home an eight-inch touchscreen display with an innovative and simple user interface. Down below there are three HVAC vents that are angled toward the driver.

The second tier of the dash features a perforated, but soft material that is also found on the door panels and seats. While there’s nothing really interesting going on here, it wouldn’t be a bad place for the passenger to store their cell phone or a notebook on longer travels. Just below the center HVAC vents sits a luxurious center console that sits well above the seats, making the driver feel like a pilot. Chrome wraps around from the face of the dash and travels toward the rear o the center console. Up front, this chrome trim is home to several buttons, presumably for the climate controls, and also serves as an extra handle for the passenger. A small storage compartment is positioned between this handle and the gear shifter, which is also quite unique and stylish. More chrome can be found on the passenger side of the cabin between the glove box and the second tier of the dash.

The door panels look to be a combination of leather, and that perforated soft-touch material. Simple in design with just the right character features, the armrests are flat and narrow while the upper portion of the door trim in concave and meets up with the ends of the dash perfectly. Blue ambient lighting can be found on the door trim, above the center console, below that sexy instrument cluster and surrounding the cup holders. We can’t see what the rear seating or back seats look like quite yet, but they are wrapped in a combination of leather with contrast stitching with two cutouts in the center made up of that soft, perforated material. The seats can be optioned with a multipoint massage system, and sound is delivered via a FOCAL premium Hi-Fi system. The infotainment system features Mirror Screen functionality while the navigation system is 3D and uses TomTom Traffic to alert the driver of traffic conditions on the road ahead.

The other thing to talk about here is the steering wheel. This is the best-looking steering wheel that I’ve seen in a new car in a long time. It’s compact and features just two spokes. Sporty by nature, the top and bottom are somewhat flattened. Textured leather makes up the sides while the top and bottom have smoother leather with red contrast stitching. There’s also a silver trim insert on the bottom. The airbag hub in the center of the steering wheel is in the shape of a slightly stretched octagon and has the Peugeot logo in the middle. Thumb buttons sit on each spoke, and it looks like there may be paddle shifters hidden behind the wheel. All told, this is one of the sexiest and driver-oriented cabins out there, and I have to say that I’m a little disturbed that I can’t have a new 5008 here in the U.S.

Drivetrain

At this point, Peugeot hasn’t said much about what will motivate it’s the new 5008, but we know it is built on the Modular Platform 2 (EMP2) that is shared with the 308, 408, Dongfeng Fengshen, Citroen C6, Citroen DS9, Citroen C4 Picasso, and even the Opel Meriva C. It was also found in some GM vehicles for a short period while PSA and GM were still working together. With that said, the platform allows for front or all-wheel drive so you can bet that the new 5008 will at least be available with power going to all four wheels. And, it should, considering PSA shelled out more than €600 million to develop this platform.

We have yet to learn what engines will be available in the new 5008, but with the EMP2 platform, there should be plenty of gasoline and diesel options. We know that the new 5008 GT line will be offered with a number of PurTech three-cylinder gasoline and BlueHDi diesel engines, so it’s likely that we’ll see the same engines available in the standard 5008. The new GT line gets the new EAT6 automatic transmission so that will likely be found in this model as well. Of course, we’ll find out more when it is fully revealed in Paris, so stay tuned for more specifics in this department.

Now, while we don’t know what engines will be available for sure, we do know about the driver assistance systems. As something that is starting to become standard from most manufacturers, it should come as no surprise that Peugeot wanted to display its dominance here as well. The 5008 comes loaded with features like Advanced Grip Control, Hill Assist and Descent Control, Automatic Emergency Braking, Distance Alert, Lane Keeping Assistance, Driver Attention warning, Smart Beam Assistance, Speed sign recognition and speed suggestion, Adaptive Cruise control with auto stop (on models equipped with an automatic transmission,) blind spot monitoring, park assist, and Visio Park 360-degree camera display.

On a side note, the new 5008 also come ready for integration with the e-Kick folding scooter or the e-Bike eF01 portable bicycle with mobile charging dock stations – talk about value.

Pricing

At this point, pricing is still a bit of a mystery, but by looking at Peugeot’s range of pricing for its models, I can come up with a rough estimate for now. The old 5008 MPV starts out at £23,130 or $30,833 in the U.K. Meanwhile, the larger, Traveller MPV which is a bit larger than the new 5008 SUV starts out around £28,120 or $37,461 at current exchange rates. I estimate the new 5008 to start out around £26,500 or about $35,325 and go up from there. But, we’ll learn more about this in the near future, so stay tuned for updates.

Competition

Infiniti QX30

Previously only seen in concept form, we finally got a good look at the QX30 in production form just a year ago. Being introduced as a 2017 model, and based on the Mercedes GLA, it’s entering an already crowded segment, so it has its work cut out for it – even more so, now that Peugeot has the new 5008. The QX30 has a stylish design filled with traditional Infiniti styling cues inside and out. The exterior is sleek. The lower body has a wider appearance while above the beltline things are trimmed down a bit. Inside, the QX30 has an inviting cabin, however, the main display is a bit small, and the overall look is somewhat common among other vehicles in this segment. Pricing for the QX30 ranges from $29,950 here in the U.S. up to as much as $37,700 for the Premium AWD trim. As far as uniqueness and flare go, the 5008 is definitely the better choice.

Read our full review on the Infiniti QX30 here.

Skoda Kodiaq

Another new model making its debut this year is the Skoda Kodiaq. While it is an all-new vehicle from Skoda, and one that has been long awaited, there is some disappointment here as this thing might as well be an Audi Q5 or Q7. In fact, one could even argue that outside of the exterior lighting and front and rear fascias, that it’s exactly that. Be that as it may, it does have its own unique design thanks to a decent design up front. The interior is somewhat luxurious, however, I still question the quality of the trim as some of it does look rather cheap. On the motivation front, the Kodiaq is offered up with the choice of two different diesel engines or three gasoline engines. Power output ranges anywhere from 123 horsepower up to as much as 178 horsepower. The entry-level gasoline unit offers fuel economy of 47.1 mpg while the entry-level diesel can get as much as 56.5 according to Skoda. Pricing has yet to be announced, but should be priced somewhere between $36,000 and $40,000 when it hits dealerships.

Read our full review on the Skoda Kodiaq here.

Conclusion

Up until recently, I wasn’t exactly a fan of Peugeot. I didn’t like many of its designs, and I’ve never liked the whole MPV look. The new 3008 and 5008 SUVs have made me rethink my whole opinion on Peugeot vehicles, and if you haven’t, I suggest you do the same. Peugeot has brought forth some truly unique designs as of recently, and the 5008 is a prime example of what happens when a company knuckles down and ushers in a new era of design and functionality. The interior design of the 5008 is bold and wild and is rivaled only by that of concepts that never made it into production. It’s a pushy move by Peugeot to go so bold, but in the long run, I think it will pay off. Do I dare say that Peugeot has reinvented itself? Not quite yet, but I will say it has found a place on my short list of favorite manufacturers and should it establish a foothold here in the U.S., the 5008 will be on my Christmas list.