Peugeot’s new 5008 has taken top spot in the large 7-seat SUV segment for the first six months of 2018, writes Trish Whelan.
Big brother to the multi-award-winning 3008 SUV, Irish Car of the Year 2018, the 5008 has taken a huge 14pc of the D-SUV market year to date.
Colin Sheridan, Sales and Marketing Director at Peugeot Ireland, said the new 5008 has been a huge sales success in Europe since launch and that performance has been replicated in Ireland since initial stock arrived in late 2017, right through the first six months of this year during which Peugeot gained many conquest customers to the brand. “Over 80pc of 5008 customers are new to us,” he added.
With the 2008 and 3008 SUVs, the Lion Brand’s passenger car market share jumped by +53pc June year-to-date in a market that has seen a slight decline. “With strong orders for the all-important July 182-registration plate, we look forward to the second half of 2018 with confidence.”
It features three rows of seats and the Peugeot iCockpit combining a compact steering wheel, touchscreen and digital instrumentation across the range for maximum control and safety. It retails in Ireland from €29,345 plus delivery related charges.
The 5008 comes with three same size but separate folding and tilting seats in the second row and two removable, separate, folding seats in the third row. Each seat in the second row features three-point Isofix child seat anchor points. With just one movement, second-row seats tilt and slide forward to access the third row. These very back two seats can be easily removed, with a single control and this makes for a huge boot capacity with up to 1,060 litres in 5-seat configuration.
Five trim levels are Access, Active, Allure, GT Line and GT versions. Standard features across the range include Peugeot’s iCockpit interior, multifunction steering wheel, Bluetooth, USB and 12V sockets, ESP, 6 airbags including curtain airbags along all three rows, child safety locks, semi-automatic air conditioning, cruise control with speed limiter, speed limit information with intelligent speed adaption, driver attention alert, and lane departure warning.
A wide range of petrol and diesel engines is offered, mated to both manual and automatic transmissions. They include Peugeot’s PureTech engine which was voted International Engine of the Year in its category for the fourth year running in June and which now makes up 27pc of 5008 sales. Diesels are a 1.6 outputting 100bhp/120bhp and a 2.0 with 150bhp.
My most recent test drive was with the 1.2 PureTech 130bhp in the Allure trim and with a really nice Cumulus grey exterior and which looked so well with the contrasting chrome detailing. This car is priced from €33,205 plus charges; €200 in annual road tax. The interior fit and finish is quite superb as with the 3008 five-seater SUV.
There is also an Allure THP petrol with 165bhp and automatic transmission with annual road tax of €280 and priced from €36,855.
