Stellantis has turned to the help of Dongfeng to reboot the Peugeot brand in the lucrative Chinese market.
Peugeot has hit the reset button on its operations in China with two new concept cars at the Beijing motor show.
The rather unimaginatively titled Peugeot 6 estate and Peugeot 8 SUV concepts point towards a more upmarket push for the Peugeot brand in China, and a relaunch of the marque that, like many other European brands, has struggled of late in the market dominated by BYD.
Stellantis-owned Peugeot has turned to its long-running Chinese joint venture partner, Dongfeng, with which it has collaborated in the Chinese market for 34 years.
That’s despite Stellantis already owning a 19.99 per cent stake in Chinese brand, Leapmotor. Dongfeng also runs joint venture programs with Western automakers, including Honda and Nissan.
“The cars will combine the best of Peugeot’s design flair and driving dynamics, with the excellence of technology from partner Dongfeng,” Peugeot announced in a media statement.
The design of the Peugeot 6 and Peugeot 8 heralds a new design direction for the Peugeot brand, with minimalist forms outlining the grille and headlights in place of the complex tessellated grilles and complex lighting signatures of Peugeot’s current range.
Both cars feature three expressive horizontal running lights at the front of the car, with a dark inlay at the outermost edge, pointing to where the headlights will be concealed on the production versions.
The grille of both cars is closed off, surrounded by sharp creases to create a shield-like outline, with a single illuminated bar running through the grille, and a Peugeot wordmark at the leading edge of the bonnet.
Despite being described as “the vision of a bold new generation of large sedans”, the Peugeot 6 concept features an elongated roof and profile that looks more like a fastback wagon.
The smooth-sided shooting break design features a fully blacked-out glasshouse and floating roof with A- and D-pillars that ‘hover’ just above the main body.
A flowing shoulderline that becomes the basis of a blistered rear wheel arch, hinting at rear-wheel drive proportions.
The deep front bumper features a jutting lower lip, and contains three body coloured ports for active cooling.
The Peugeot 8 concept is less dramatically proportioned, but still offers gently bulging wheel arches, a more upright rear pillar, and more pronounced black-framed details on the air intakes and where the front guard meets the bonnet.
The size and relative positioning of the Peugeot 6 could see it replace the 508, while the Peugeot 8 would be a larger model to slot in above the current 5008.
Peugeot stopped short of outlining how production versions of the two concepts would be produced, other than mentioning that ‘technology’ would be provided by Dongfeng with design and dynamics coming from Peugeot.
The resulting production models are slated to be built in Wuhan by Dongfeng, and it’s likely that Dongfeng will handle the platforms, drivetrains, and electronics – and the engineering behind them, in a manner similar to the Mercedes-Benz-designed, but Geely-engineered Smart brand.
Kez Casey migrated from behind spare parts counters to writing about cars over ten years ago. Raised by a family of automotive workers, Kez grew up in workshops and panel shops before making the switch to reviews and road tests for The Motor Report, Drive and CarAdvice.
