Current thinking on car design

PEUGEOT has announced pricing and specifications for its new 2008 and e-2008 SUVs. Priced from £20,150 and £28,150 respectively, both are on sale e and available to order now.

The 2008 will be available in four trims – Active, Allure, GT Line and GT. Even base-spec cars get

16-inch alloy wheels, a 3.5-inch display set into the main instrument binnacle and a seven-inch infotainment set-up housing Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Prices for the mid-range Allure car start from £22,350 for the combustion-powered variant, rising to £30,300 for the all-electric version.

These cars get upgraded 17-inch alloy wheels and a range of gloss black exterior touches among other features.

Higher-up GT Line models start from £26,100, and get

Peugeot has stepped up a gear with the latest offerings for its 2008 range

18-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, LED headlights and a full sports bodykit. Opting for this trim on the e-2008 bumps the price up to £32,000.

Things are rounded off with the range-topping GT, priced from £31,575 on the normal 2008 and £34,275 on the e-2008. It has a higher range of assistance systems such as adaptive cruise control, lane assist and active blind-spot monitoring.

Five conventional powertrains are available and the all-electric e-2008 uses a 132bhp electric motor linked to a 50kWh battery. Peugeot claims it’ll travel up to 193 miles on a full charge, and can be taken from empty to full in just seven and a half hours via a domestic 7.4kW wall box charger.

VOLKSWAGEN, meanwhile, has revealed sketches of its upcoming new generation Caddy, with the van set to take on a revolutionary look, pictured left.

Up front, the van features a fascia similar to that of the latest Golf – with a thin LED lightbar stretching across sharp headlights and a drilled-like grille sitting underneath.

At the rear, what appears to be a large glass panel has a connected taillight that outlines the whole section – save for a break in the lower segment where the badge sits. Volkswagen describes this drawing as the ‘cargo’ version of the Caddy, so it’s possible other variants may take on a different rear-end design.

No word yet on when the Volkswagen Caddy will be revealed in the metal, aside from some point in 2020. The Geneva Motor Show in March could be a possible location for its unveiling.

VOLVO has become the first European car company to introduce an app-based mobile valeting service for customers. Volvo Car Mobile Wash also gives a free car health check covering key areas such as tyre pressures and tread depth, coolant levels and a general overview of bodywork. Customers are able to choose when and where this takes place and can simply unlock their car via the Volvo On Call app when the valeter arrives and lock it when the service is finished. Prices start from £22 for an exterior wash, while a mini-valet starts from £39. For now, the service is only available within the M25, but Volvo is planning to expand the service to other areas.

The new New 2008 and Volkswagen’s tantalising impressions of the future