Beijing 2012: Peugeot Urban Crossover Concept

News I By Brandon Turkus I April 24, 2012
There haven’t really been very many off-the-wall, pie-in-the-sky concepts at Auto China 2012. Sure, there were the Honda Concept C and Concept S and Mercedes-Benz Concept Style Coupe, but for the most part the cars in Beijing have been largely grounded in reality.
 
So it’s nice to see French manufacturer Peugeot mix things up a bit, with its Urban Crossover Concept. Now don’t get us wrong, this isn’t really that radical a concept in the grand scheme, but during a largely production-based Beijing show, it’s pretty earth-shattering.
 
The Urban Crossover Concept is meant to expand Peugeot’s small-car talent to the realm of crossovers. At just over four meters, it’s not startlingly large, and a width of under two meters means it’s not particularly wide.
 
There’s really not a great deal to tell about the Urban Crossover Concept. Peugeot doesn’t mention powertrains or optional equipment. Most of the talk is about the styling, which frankly, is best left up to you loyal readers. Post your feelings in the comments section.
 
Please scroll down for the official press release from Peugeot.
 
Peugeot Urban Crossover Concept
 
Cheekiness and Seduction…
 
A worldwide reflection on the motor vehicle in a world that is ever more urbanized
 
At that start of the decade, 30 cities in the world had populations of more than 10 million. By 2050, 5.3 billion inhabitants of the planet will live in mega-conurbations. Peugeot, aware of changes in the world around it, led a reflection on a multi-role compact vehicle, equally at ease in the urban infrastructure, as on the open road.
 
Urban Crossover Concept will be presented in turn at the Beijing Motor Show in April and at the Paris International, in October, so as to illustrate the product of this reflection in a global perspective.
 
Elegant and cheeky, refined and charismatic, sporty and seductive, with Urban Crossover Concept, Peugeot offers a new vision of a compact Crossover that is modern and relaxed, dynamic and seductive.
 
Cities are changing, mobility as well
 
From Sao Paulo to Shanghai, from London to Kuala Lumpur, from Cape Town to Moscow, the city lives, changes, grows. Humanity becomes more and more urban, at a rate not seen before. A new generation of city dwellers is being born.
 
For them, with them, the international teams from Style Peugeot in Paris, in Shanghai and in Sao Paulo have created a new type of vehicle: the Urban Crossover Concept.
 
Urban by its contained dimensions (with a length of 4m14 and a width of 1m74), adventurer by its athletic and sleek style, conferring on it an extraordinary and universal power of seduction. Crossover, it is the vehicle which marries the elegance and refinement of a saloon, the cheekiness, the mischievousness of an SUV, with the multi-role capability and unusual spaciousness for this market segment.
A reflection on the Crossover in the B segment, which draws on considerable expertise in production and concept cars
 
Peugeot, with its strong credibility in the field of compact cars (15 million units produced in the 200 series) and a legitimacy that is recent, but already remarkable in the Crossover field, with the success of 3008 (368 000 units have been sold in the world to date) and the presentation of the SXC concept car at the Shanghai Motor Show in 2011, wanted to develop the reflections and marry these two areas of excellence in a concept car.
 
Urban Crossover Concept wants to be the synthesis of Peugeot’s know-how in creating a small vehicle combining agility, compactness, multi-role ability and confident styling at the service of young city dwellers that like the city, live the city, creating the city, while still loving to escape from it.
 
A unique Style unique, marrying elegance with robustness
 
Urban Crossover Concept naturally embodies Peugeots new styling cues.
 
With its athletic and classy lines, Urban Crossover Concept imposes its audacious posture which shakes up and reinvents the standards of large vehicles for the small vehicle segment.
Urban Crossover Concept associates aspects that are normally different and separate:
 
• the height and the robustness of a modern SUV, concerned to be light and aerodynamic
• the finesse, the elegance and the dynamism of the new Peugeot saloons
• but also, the multi-role ability of a large vehicle that knows how to remain compact
 
The front end is at the same time refined and full of power. Models that are sensual and with a highly sculpted bonnet or front wings give a reassuring impression of protection and robustness.
 
The smiling grille, always floating, offers a massive outline, shaped in metal.
 
It is associated with a sophisticated dual-aspect treatment of the image of Peugeot’s new badge.
 
This care in the treatment of details can of course be found in the precise and original design of the headlamps which further refreshes the Peugeot look. Its lower edge closely follows the technical functions showing a keen pupil of the feline, so giving it an even more expressive and singular character.

In profile, the smooth flow between the raked windscreen and the line of the roof continues to the spoiler, creating a profiled and very dynamic outline. The lines of the side, laid out in the direction of the road are evocative of a car that is lively, classy and very dynamic.
 
Urban Crossover Concept presents a sculpturing of the wings and side that is very sensual and sophisticated evocative of natural athletic qualities. The rounded shape of the wheel arches symbolises the qualities of agility associated with all road vehicles.
 
The raised body and large wheels reveal the true multi-role qualities for family or working life, while also contributing to the reading of a car that is light, respectful of its environment.
 
Finally, the soft wave of the roof underlines the exclusive upper finishers, crafted in metal. It appears to be set in the body and directly inspired by the RCZ coupé. This refinement is found in the precise design of the roof bars, evocative of both speed and the leisure use of the vehicle.
 
At the rear, with the dynamic design with the lamps embedded with precision in the body, it presents a luminous Peugeot signature with 3 floating claws using LED technology.
 
The rear volume is monolithic, a symbol of controlled power and solidity.
 
It is associated with lines that are dynamic in character and sculpted models.
 
Finally, the aluminium spoiler and roof double bubble are reminiscent of the sporty and elegant aspect of the RCZ.
 
In this way, Urban Crossover Concept posses a pronounced personality, associating:
• power and robustness by its posture and its contours
• elegant, sensual and very dynamic lines
• refinement and technology in the treatment of exclusive details
 
Urban Crossover Concept transcends border. The borders of vehicle style and segmentation. The borders of the needs of future generations of customers. The borders between the city and nature. The borders between continents.

Peugeot
 
Present in 160 countries, with 10,000 points of contact, everywhere Peugeot combines excellence and emotion. In 2011, Peugeot sold 2,114,000 vehicles worldwide, accelerated its internationalisation in the large growing markets and continued its move upmarket. The Marque reaffirms its environmental commitment by the implementation of e-HDi Diesel micro-hybridisation and the launch in 2012 of three full hybrid Diesel HYbrid4 models.
Peugeot is the only marque to offer a complete mobility package with private and commercial vehicles, scooters, bicycles, and a wide range of services, including the Mu mobility programme.
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