SPY PHOTOS: Peugeot 308 Estate

French Family Vehicle

It's only about 18 months ago that the Peugeot 307-range underwent a restyling, and yet now we caught the French car maker testing its all-new 308 estate, likely to be called "SW" again. Formerly the 308 hatchback was scheduled for release in 2008, but just recently Peugeot has decided to show the new model at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor show already, likely because of strong competition from German and Italian makes who are planning to introduce their new compact hatches in Frankfurt, too. We therefore expect to see the 308 SW hit the market yet in winter or spring 2008. It is, however, the 308 hatchback version that will be the first one to hit the market as four- and two-door. Its overall length is said to grow by about 4 cm to 4.25 meters while its height is going to be slightly reduced. Just like Volkswagen with the "Cross-Golf", PSA is also hiding an SUV variant of the 308 up their sleeve, however, this one without four wheel drive. A convertible-coupe is expected to follow about a year after the SW's introduction. Power will come from a 2.2 four-cylinder turbo diesel engine delivering 170 HP as well as from the new 1.6 litre fuel injected engine generation delivering between 75 and 170 HP. It was developed in co-operation with BMW.