‘Coupe’ SUVs – once the exclusive domain of luxury brands – are now wearing mainstream nameplates, and Peugeot is also preparing to debut one.
Our spy photographers captured a heavily camouflaged coupe SUV being tested by Peugeot, after having previously spied a jacked-up 308 wagon mule in Sweden. It’s understood that this coupe SUV is an advancement on said testing mule.
The unnamed Peugeot coupe SUV could serve as the brand’s rival to the recently introduced Renault Arkana, a coupe crossover that slots in between the Captur it’s based on and the more upright Koleos in Australia.
It could debut early in 2023, though a reveal this year is possible.
Through the camouflage, we can spy a sleek front end with angular headlights. There’s a prominent shoulder line down the side of the car, culminating in wide hips that flank a steeply raked rear end.
Given the mule’s body doesn’t appear to be sitting awkwardly atop the chassis, this coupe SUV should have a similar wheelbase – 2730mm – to the outgoing 308 wagon it’s temporarily wearing the body of.
For context, the mid-sized Peugeot 3008 SUV has a 2675mm wheelbase, though the Chinese-market 4008 is a stretched version of it with a 2730mm wheelbase. A Renault Arkana’s span measures 2720mm.
It’s possible the coupe SUV will share the EMP2 platform with the likes of the 308 hatch and wagon and 3008 and 5008 crossovers, which would allow it to offer a plug-in hybrid powertrain.
The 3008, for example, offers a plug-in hybrid powertrain mating a 147kW turbocharged petrol four-cylinder engine with electric motors on each axle, good for a total system output of 222kW.
The EMP2 platform, however, will reportedly soon accommodate electric powertrains per a report from Autocar.
The 308 will reportedly gain an electric variant in mid-2023, with a single 115kW/269Nm electric motor and a 54kWh battery.
It’ll reportedly be good for an electric range of nearly 402km, while it won’t be heavier than the plug-in hybrid 308.
EMP2-based Peugeots like the 308 are also offered with a range of turbo-petrol and turbo-diesel engines.
The BMW X6 set the template for the coupe SUV back in 2008, taking an X5 and giving it a more steeply-raked roofline.
Pictured: Peugeot coupe SUV mule
Mercedes-Benz subsequently followed with coupe versions of its Mercedes-Benz GLC and GLE, while Audi now sells ‘Sportback’ versions of the Q3 and Q5.
Despite all this activity in the luxury SUV market, mainstream brands have been slower to embrace the body style except in China.
There, coupe SUVs are rapidly proliferating – Volkswagen has ‘X’ coupe SUV versions of its Tiguan and Teramont, Skoda has a Kodiaq GT, and Haval has its F7x and H6 GT. The latter is due here mid-year.
