Peugeot 508: The lion continues to grow

Its front end is dominated by headlights that run deep into the wings, a large, wide grille, a Peugeot badge integrated into the bonnet creases and a name badge that sits just beneath the bonnet shutline. There’s also a pronounced shoulder line that runs the length of the flanks. The 508 is 4.7m long, around […]

Its front end is dominated by headlights that run deep into the wings, a large, wide grille, a Peugeot badge integrated into the bonnet creases and a name badge that sits just beneath the bonnet shutline. There’s also a pronounced shoulder line that runs the length of the flanks.

The 508 is 4.7m long, around 10mm longer than the 407 but 20mm shorter than the 607, production of which ended last month.

The estate version is 4.81m long. The car sits on a platform that also underpins the Citroën C5 and outgoing 407.

The increase in size is likely to signify that the 607’s sales did not merit an entirely new generation and reflects the key role large saloons are playing in the emerging Chinese market.

Few technical details have been released, although Peugeot has revealed that all of the car’s diesel engines will offer stop-start using Peugeot-Citroën’s e-HDi system. Quality and class in this model are all the more important since the 508 must replace not one but two cars: the old 407 (which was 9cm shorter) and the executive-class 607 (which was only a little bigger). It is no secret that Peugeot took the popular, refined and highly regarded Ford Mondeo as its dynamic benchmark, while interior quality was modelled on Audi’s A4.

A 508 with Hybrid4 tech will also be launched shortly after sales start. It combines a combustion engine driving the front wheels with an electric motor integrated into the rear axle.

Peugeot says the Hybrid4 508 will offer four-wheel drive, a combined 200bhp and CO2 emissions of 99g/km.

The 508 sales will begin at the start of 2011.

The Chinese-spec models will be built at Peugeot’s own facility there, but European-spec models will be produced in Rennes, France.

Meanwhile, the 407 Coupé is unlikely to be replaced. But a folding hard-top, four-seat convertible 508 — a potential rival for the Volvo C70 — may make production.

Culled from www.autocar.co.uk