Peugeot 5008

It's been many a year since Peugeot has graced us with a cracking hot hatch. The days of 205 GTIs and 106 Rallyes seem long gone, with crossovers and MPVs the way forward for the French marque.

Strengthening this move towards value family motoring is the new 5008. Peugeot claims it harks back to the days of the classic 505 Estate (end picture). In reality it’s a seven-seat people carrier in the vein of its cousin from Citroen, the C4 Picasso. The two even bear a noticeable resemblance (see the Citroen, pictured in yellow). There’s plenty of flexibility inside with flat-folding and sliding seats and up to 2506 litres of carrying capacity.

More interesting is the introduction of a head-up display to the Peugeot spec-list, with speed, cruise control info and distance alert all projected on to the screen.

The front suspension gets a pseudo McPherson setup with a drop link anti-roll bar, with a torsion beam at the rear. There’s also ‘Snow Motion’ tech – essentially an all-weather mode for the traction control, which activates itself automatically.

The engine range includes two petrols – a 120bhp VTi and 156bhp THP, both 1.6 litres – and three diesels – a 110bhp 1.6-litre and a 2-litre HDi which comes in six-speed manual 150bhp and six-speed auto 163bhp flavours.

The Peugeot 5008 will be on display at the Frankfurt motor show in September, with sales beginning in the UK at the start of 2010. Prices will be from around £15,000. For now, though, our favourite Peugeot remains the excellent 107 city car.