Peugeot plotting two new SUVs

Peugeot is readying two all-new SUVs to replace the small 3008 crossover this year and the discontinued 5008 people-mover -- with an all-new seven-seat SUV -- in 2017.

That's the scoop from French website auto-moto.com, which this week published renderings of the all-new 3008 and 5008 SUVs that it says will be revealed one after the other within months.

According to Auto-moto, both new SUVs will be based on the same platform (EMP2, as per Peugeot's latest 308 small car), and share the same wheelbase and front-wheel drive layout with Grip Control in lieu of AWD.

Apparently, the difference in body length will be in the rear overhangs, with the five-seat 3008 successor positioned beneath the larger 5008 with a 5+2 seating arrangement.

This will give the French car-maker direct rivals for arch-enemy Renault's five-seat Kadjar and upcoming Maxthon seven-seater, as well as Japanese SUVs like the Nissan QASHQAI and X-TRAIL.

Peugeot's move to turn the 3008 and 5008 into traditional SUVs is logical given the popularity of the bold, high-riding wagon segment globally, and will also make the French brand's '00' SUV range branding easier to understand.

Currently, Peugeot Automobiles Australia offers three small SUVs with the 2008 priced from $22,490, the Mitsubishi ASX-based 4008 from $27,990 and the 3008 from $35,490.

However, the two new EMP2-based models gives Peugeot a three-model SUV line-up spanning the light-size 2008, small 3008 and mid-size 5008, priced from about $20,000 to over $40,000.

The B-segment 2008, a facelifted version of which arrives Down Under in final quarter of this year, will remain Peugeot's smallest SUV, while the new 2017 5008 D-segment SUV will replaces the seven-seat people-mover discontinued here last year.

In between, the replacement for the C-segment 3008 will eventually also supersede the 4008, which currently competes in the same small SUV segment as the 2008 and 3008. PSA Peugeot Citroen is unlikely to sign a new model-sharing deal with Mitsubishi, whose ASX will be replaced within two years.

As these renderings suggest, the general design of both new SUVs is inspired by the Quartz concept, with distinctive front-end styling similar to the 2008 facelift.

Engines will echo those in the 308 from launch, meaning 1.2- and 1.6-litre turbo-petrol and 2.0-litre turbo-diesel. Auto-moto says Peugeot will debut its new petrol-electric plug-in hybrid system in the SUVs by 2019.

Both new SUVs are almost certain to be sold in Australia, but the next 3008 and 5008 are unlikely to hit local showrooms before 2017.