We are at the end of the 2000s. An important period, because it will be impacted by the 2008 crisis following the American credit and subprime mortgage crisis. A period when global companies are on the back foot. Does this explain the halt of an unprecedented Peugeot program? Probably not, because the effects of the crisis will be felt later on in the PSA Group. And among its competitors. This project by a Peugeot rival to the MINI is one of the tentacles of the Urban Distinctives program consisting of four models unveiled in 2008, the first three of which were revealed as a world premiere in the book “Concept cars and study prototypes Peugeot” published in french only by BJB, below.
These four new cars were all positioned in segments A and B because, as Jérôme Gallix, Peugeot’s design director at the time, pointed out, “Peugeot was about to raise its game. But at the time, the brand didn’t have much more to offer than Citroën. In view of the range of components available, I focused on cars in segments A and B, in relation to the platforms I had available. As soon as we left this universe, we became under-powered, with small wheels. We had to stay within our playing field.”
Included in this program was the very famous 204 Cabriolet revival (above and below) designed on the platform of the 207. However, the group wanted to evoke another icon besides the 204 Cabriolet. “At Peugeot, some people think that this project should be based on the 205. For them, it is the monument to be revived. I managed to convince Xavier and Thierry Peugeot that even if they were right about the basic idea of the appeal of a revival, the leap in time – in terms of the product and manufacturing techniques – had to result in a very modern perception of the car. But the 205 was already very modern. It was too early to think about a revival for it. I explained that the model that lent itself to this approach was the 204. What’s more, I saw a real message in it, because it was one of the first projects that Gérard Welter worked on in its convertible version, with Paul Bouvot.”
Another car belonging to Urban Distinctives, the small A-segment SUV below, capable of replacing the 1007 and its two wide sliding doors in the product plan. Jérôme Gallix recalls that in this program, “the projects were not products added to the range. They came to replace silhouettes that I wanted to see disappear.” Like the 1007… “Usually, a 4×4 expresses virility and power, but the A segment of small cars does not have these attributes. So it had to be a very feminine object. The director of the Urban Distinctives program, Florence Banos, had an appetite for this small 4×4 designed by Attila Bocsi. All of this proved that we were on the right track.” This small 4×4 was based on a Mitsubishi platform. It should be noted that PSA had signed an agreement with the Japanese manufacturer in 2005 to jointly produce 4×4 vehicles, a rapidly expanding market in Europe.
The third model in the Urban Distinctives plan below is a B-segment hatchback with a surprising design, a vertical windshield and exceptional roominess. Strangely, this car was not presented at the major exhibition at the Peugeot Adventure Museum dedicated to concept-cars.
This third silhouette was undoubtedly the most divisive, and it is understandable that it was sidelined… like the other three silhouettes, because the Urban Distinctives arrived when Bruno de Guibert was replaced by Gilles Boussac at the helm of the product. “Unfortunately, these different models were not taken into consideration, even though Xavier Peugeot was with us!” recalls Jérôme Gallix. Grégoire Olivier and Gilles Boussac put a stop to the four projects just after the designer left in 2009. He was replaced by Gilles Vidal in 2010…
There is therefore one regret: that Peugeot did not dare to industrialize the fourth silhouette above, intended to tackle the market for premium B-segment sedans. This project must be placed in the context of the time. At neighboring Citroën, the DS3 was in the works and thus became a direct competitor of the “MINI” with a Peugeot twist. Jérôme Gallix explains that “at the time, the MINI had a very strong appeal, and if Peugeot wanted to compete at the top end of the B segment, it had to come up with a product to match.”
But at the time, Peugeot’s product plan must not overshadow Citroën’s. This B-segment premium Peugeot proposal was based on the platform of the 207 of the time (4.04 m in length), with the same wheelbase (2.54 m) and the same overhangs. Jérôme Gallix now acknowledges “that the style of this model has aged, but the car would not have been out of place in the landscape of the time.”
“I wanted to offer a sedan that would attack the top of what was available on the market at the time. An approach identical to that of the 205 GTI in its time. If this little Peugeot had come into being, I would have done everything I could to prevent it from being fitted with a diesel engine!“ The designers of this Peugeot-style MINI are Thomas Fournier and Boris Reinmoller. “Boris played on the perfection of the style of the moment, rather than on a design that shows an object coming out of nowhere. Thomas Fournier converted Boris’ design into 3D, maintaining the enthusiasm and hopes of these sketches, right up to the volume stage. If we really had to produce the car, we would have had to come up with a more liberated style than on this proposal, where the car feels a little cramped and too simple.“
This model of the Peugeot version of the MINI has no interior, but Jérôme Gallix thinks that this proposal could have benefited from the same level of equipment as a Citroën DS3. MINI has since become a range in its own right, and DS left the Citroën fold in 2014 to become a new French brand. Both with different destinies. And Peugeot (until today) has had no real rival to oppose the MINI. But the return of the GTI label is looming… “I wanted to offer a sedan that attacks the top of what was available on the market at the time. An approach identical to that of the 205 GTI in its day”: Jérôme Gallix’s project finally turned out to be quite right!
