The 5008 is the latest number from Peugeot. It will be here by mid next year.

IN brand-speak, it is “the first SUV to offer modularity on a par with that of the best people carriers”.

Translation: The 5008 is a sizeable Peugeot seven-seater crossover with slight off-roading pretension, similar is size to the Kia Sorento, Hyundai’ s Santa Fe, the Mazda CX-9 and Renault’s just launched second-generation Koleos.

Meaning? It’s a familiar fare for Kiwis, and potentially a winning formula for the French marque’s distributor, given that SUVS – particularly of this size – are capturing significant sales at the moment.

Peugeot New Zealand has confirmed the model is being considered for local launch around April 2017, making it the second SUV it will release next year following the next size-down 3008.

The local market announcement was made yesterday, to time with the international release of images of the model, which has its full reveal at the Paris International Motor Show later this month.

The 3008 and 5008 models are incredibly important to Peugeot here; it is virtually set to reinvent as a SUV specialist, having felt the bite of diminished interest in orthodox passenger cars.

While the 208 and 308 hatchbacks are hanging on, it dropped the 508 large sedan at the start of the year. The last SUV of this type offered by Peugeot was the 4007, a derivation of the previous Mitsubishi Outlander (built in Japan) that sat in the medium sector.

Simon Rose, the divisional manager of Peugeot New Zealand, believes the 5008, as the first truly big SUV Peugeot has offered here, will be a key model.

“The all-new 5008 will be perfectly suited for the New Zealand market, offering the flexibility, power, space and lifestyle appeal Kiwi families really want.

“It will change the market offering for us in New Zealand by appealing to an entirely new range of conquest customers.”

This is the second generation of 5008 but also a fresh start, as the previous car was a people carrier.

With MPVs no longer in vogue, Peugeot has re-written the formula ; the end result being a car that is radical departure from its forebear insofar as exterior styling is concerned – now it is very much a sister ship to the 3008 – but still maintaining MPV-ish flexbility within.

It’s not a wholly new idea ; Mazda having gone down much the same track with the new and just-landed CX-9.

Full 5008 details have yet to be revealed, but the brand’s images show it has the same sort of dahsboard as the 3008, with all the latest i-Cockpit design features of a compact steering wheel, eight-inch central touchscreen and a larger digital instrument cluster.

Rose says final local market specifications have yet to be finalised. Ambient lighting, massage seats and in-car fragrances, LED headlamps, wireless smartphone charging and a panoramic glass roof are among features notified in France.

A suite of active safety features also apply. These include Advanced Grip Control with Hill Assist Descent Control, Automatic Emergency Braking, Distance Alert, Active Lane Keeping Assistance, Driver Attention Warning, Smart Beam Assistance, Speed Sign Recognition and Speed Suggestion, Adaptive Cruise Control with stop feature (automatic variants only), Active Blind Spot Monitoring, Park Assist, and Visio Park which provides 360-degree vision.

Model variants span Access, Active, Allure, GT Line and sportier GT trims.

The three separated and foldable second-row seats have length and inclination adjustment, while the two seats in the third row are also separate, foldable and even removable. Peugeot claims a boot capacity of 1060 litres; the largest in its class according to the make. 

In Europe, engine choices span four petrol and six diesel powertrains; of these a 123kW turbo-diesel unit and a 134kW petrol engine seemed best positioned for launch here.

The 5008 is based, like the 3008, on the EMP2 platform that was also the basis of the large Citroen Picasso and Grand Picasso MPVs that have also been pulled from local sale after failing to pull interest.

However, it now seems the double chevron brand is set to apply the same rebirth process meted the 5008, with a new SUV - codenamed C84 – to be built alongside the Peugeot and a another Citroen also on this platform, the E-Mehari, at a plant in western France.

It is said the C84 will be based on the Aircross concept seen at the 2015 Shanghai motor show.

The production C84 is expected to replace the low volume C4 Aircross, which is a rebadged Mitsubishi ASX.