Try defining a crossover. Your definition would certainly be something close to this: a mix of an SUV with another car type. Any type. Well, now try to name the new Peugeot 3008 a crossover. Since crossovers normally feature all-wheel drive, and the new French vehicle does not offer that (yet), you may find it difficult to name it like Peugeot has. If it is a problem to any buyer, there is something that may serve as a consolation: it will have AWD by 2011.

This is the deadline Peugeot has informed for the first offer of the HYbrid4 system. The 3008 will be the first car to offer it to customers when it is fully developed. The system works with an electric engine under the luggage compartment that will power the rear wheels. Since this engine does not need any mechanical link to the main engine, installed in the front of 3008, the car will not need to save room for a rear differential and other parts.

We expect this system to be more or less like the one presented back in 2008 by the Prologue HYbrid4. If it really is, the electric engine may generate 37 bhp (27 kW), while the main powerplant shall be the 2-litre HDi engine that generates 163 bhp (120 kW) at 3,750 rpm and 340 Nm at 2,000 rpm. This is the most powerful option in the 3008 range, what indicates the hybrid system will use it as its basis. In the concept, HYbrid 4 made the car have a fuel consumption of 24.4 km/l and CO2 emissions of 109 g/km.

Considering most crossover buyers are more interested about the looks than about the function, 3008 will most likely please its public. It shares its platform with the 308 and is 4.37 m long, 1.84 m wide and 1.64 m tall, with a wheelbase of 2.61 m. Its weight goes from 1,399 kg (for the 1.6-litre petrol unit) to 1,539 kg (for the 2-litre turbodiesel HDI with a six-speed automatic transmission). Its tyres can go from 215/60 R16 to 235/45 R18, depending on the version and trim level the buyer may choose.

As for the engines, we’ve already informed you on the top of the line model, the 2-litre turbodiesel with that produces 163 bhp, but there are also two petrol options and two more diesel choices. The petrol units are a 1.6-litre that pumps out 120 bhp (88 kW) at 6,000 rpm and 160 Nm at 4,250 rpm and a its turbocharged version, able to generate 150 bhp (110 kW) at 5,800 rpm and 240 Nm at 1,400 rpm.

The two other diesel units are a 1.6-litre with an output of 110 bhp (80 kW) at 4,000 rpm and 240 Nm of torque at 1,750 rpm and another 2-litre that produces 150 bhp (110 kw) at 3,750 rpm. Torque for both 2-litre turbodiesel engines is 340 Nm at 2,000 rpm.

The new car can carry five people and 432 l of luggage with the rear seats in its right position. If you have to carry more stuff and less people you can increase luggage space to up to 1,241 l. The backdoor of 3008 is divided in an upper and a lower part. Each of them can give access to different compartments or, if the 3008 chooses that, to an undivided boot.

All modern features and equipments are on the list, but there is one that will surely make some buyers’ eyes get bright (literally). There is a heads-up display fitted to all 3008 which allow the driver to have access to information such as speed and a warning on the minimum distance that has to be kept from the car in front of the “crossover”. These are safety items that will eventually find its places in cheaper cars in a short period of time. 3008 also has bi-xenon headlights and a hill holder, for the car not to go backwards in a slope. It is surely due to the fact that 3008 is also equipped with an electronic parking brake.

Prices have not been disclosed so far. Although Peugeot does not state that, we can expect to see the first official presentation of 3008 at the 2009 edition of Geneva Motor Show.

Peugeot 3008