Peugeot 508

Genuinely attractive large French car alert!

THIS AUTUMN Peugeot’s hard sell – its new 508 four-door coupe – becomes a beacon of style… honest! First up, the 508 has a concept car’s interior, with a stepped dash layering pale wood, nappa leather and plastic to stunning effect, as per the 2014 Exalt show car. A 10-inch central touchscreen and a customisable 12-inch digital instrument pack further burnish a special cabin.

The five-door body – shrunk to an Audi A5 Sportback’s dimensions – has classy frameless doors and some eye-catching details: LED icicles hanging from the headlamps, three-dimensional red claw slashes in the rear light bar. And the undulating rear wing panel, a massive pressing so complex Peugeot simply couldn’t have done it just a few years ago, is something to behold. Most appealing will be a 1.6-litre turbo petrol with 177 or 222bhp and an eight-speed auto spinning the front wheels, or the 296bhp plug-in hybrid due 2019.

Refinement and finish should be good too: the chassis is bonded and welded to boost rigidity and suppress noise, and chairman Carlos Tavares is personally overseeing a quality drive that has cut defects by half. If engineers eliminate another 20 per cent by 2020, Peugeot vows the goal of besting Volkswagen quality will have been realised.

‘Frappe fort,’ – hit hard – says chief designer Pierre-Paul Mattei. ‘We know this car had to hit strongly, or we should quit

the segment.’ The new 508 will surely be Peugeot’s best counterpuncher since the 406.

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