Unveiled at Beijing motor show, the Peugeot Urban Crossover Concept is the French brand’s take on a car for the teeming termite mounds that will be the cities of the future.A style collaboration by Peugeot’s design centres Paris, Shanghai and Sao Paulo, the compact SUV - 4.14m long and 1.74m wide - is based on the 208 platform. It weds the RCZ cues of with metal roof bars arching along sides and aluminium spoiler with the new brand signatures of floating grille, ‘feline’ headlamp effect and pronounced boomerang rear light clusters with triple ‘claw’ lines.
The 2008 is powered by new three-cylinder petrol engines. There’s a 1.2 litre e-THP 110 and 1.2 litre e-THP 130 with 205 and 230 Nm of torque respectively. Peugeot says that the 1.2 e-THP engine is 12 kg lighter than a four-cylinder NA equivalent engine, even though it has a turbo, a larger cooling system and 45% more torque. Fuel consumption improvement is between 15% and 20%.
The 2008 comes with Grip Control, which combines with 16 cm ground clearance, the traction control system and “Mud & Snow” tyres for some ability off the beaten path. Grip Control adapts to the terrain by acting on the front wheels. Drivers can also select Snow, Off-Road, Sand, ESP Off modes.