Paris '08 Preview: Peugeot teases with RC... hybrid concept
by Noah Joseph on Aug 20th 2008 at 10:29AM 
Click above for a hi-res gallery of the Peugeot RC...
With the semi-annual auto salon returning to Paris this fall, you can expect France's major automakers to make a big splash this year. Peugeot is preparing to unveil a new concept car, and has given us a bit of a heads-up in the form of a few images and some teasingly cryptic details.
With the name of the actual car not yet released, Peugeot is referring to the show car as the RC, adopting the same thematic nomenclature as the RC Spade and RC Diamond concepts from 2002 and the 908RC concept sedan from the last Paris Motor Show in 2006. Like those concepts, this one is not meant to directly preview a production car in the pipeline. However, it does foreshadow Peugeot's new design direction. The four-door concept's styling melds smooth flowing lines and sharp creases to make for a stunning shape, and moves the huge lion emblem farther south, not unlike the Audi R8's grille. The echoes of Ingolstadt aren't new for Peugeot, with many asserting that the 308 RC Z borrowed too heavily from the Audi TT. As for propulsion, Peugeot insists that "respect for the environment and driving pleasure can be compatible", and so have fitted the RC with an unspecified hybrid powertrain producing a maximum of 313 hp and emitting only 109 g/km of CO2 in gasoline mode and, of course, zero in electric.
Check out the press release after the jump and the gallery below to view the teaser shots of the upcoming Peugeot hybrid concept, and stay tuned as we close in on the Paris show for more details.
Gallery: Peugeot RC... concept
[Source: Peugeot]
PRESS RELEASE
Environmental efficiency combined with motoring passion
The "RC...", which its full name will be revealed at the Paris Motor Show, is a concept car born from the passion and expertise of Peugeot's stylists and engineers. This "GT" coupe is the missing link between the RC ♠ et ♦ concept cars revealed in 2002 and the 908 RC, one of the stars of the 2006 Paris Motor Show. It is a real laboratory of future ideas, bringing together numerous stylistic, engineering and technological ideas in a single vehicle.
The "RC..." is an accessible and versatile car, with four doors, four seats and a highly innovative hybrid architecture.
Its aim: a very high level of efficiency both in terms of performance (with its potential 230 kW/313 bhp) and minimal impact on the environment (CO2 emissions of 109 g/km in the combined cycle or ZERO in electric mode).
It is an exciting, eco-efficient vehicle which has all the characteristics that together create a real passion for driving. A synthesis of ideas that demonstrate Peugeot, more than ever, is capable of combining respect for the environment with driving pleasure.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Yaroukh 10:38AM (8/20/2008)
Checkout the headlights - is it Audi R8 or rather some VW?
Reply
Red 10:42AM (8/20/2008)
I think this looks better than the 308 RC Z. Very "supercar-ish" in the front flares and superimposed greenhouse.
Reply
BoneHeadOtto 10:47AM (8/20/2008)
what a blatant Prius rip off!!
.
.
.
Just kidding, that seems to be everyones comment these days
Reply
Red 10:57AM (8/20/2008)
Pretty much. Of course, the Prius ripped off the Insight, which itself used the same shape from Honda's CR-X almost thirty years ago.
Randy 12:31PM (8/20/2008)
And the Prius ripped off the Ford Model T since it was the first Hybrid vehicle ever created. :)
Quote:
"when Henry Ford designed the Model T, it was his expectation that ethanol, made from renewable biological materials, would be a major automobile fuel. However, gasoline emerged as the dominant transportation fuel in the early twentieth century because of the ease of operation of gasoline engines with the materials then available for engine construction, a growing supply of cheaper petroleum from oil field discoveries, and intense lobbying by petroleum companies for the federal government"
Adam Marcello 10:45AM (8/20/2008)
I love the way Peugeots look. Its a damn shame we'll never see them in America.
Reply
Chris Whiteford 11:01AM (8/20/2008)
My parents had bought the first Peugeot sold in Michigan back in 73'. It was a 504 and I can say it was a very nice car, the car lasted about 9 years and had well over 200k miles on it.
I do wish that both Peugeot and Citroen would make it over here as I do think they would be well accepted in uniqueness of design and good quality, I would guess their competition to be somewhere between VW and Audi.
With the days of the "freedom fries" mentality behind us as well one can only imagine that the animosity is subsiding.
Given the current economy though I would suppose it unlikely, but one can always hope.
Reply
Menice 11:08AM (8/20/2008)
TURN ON THE LIGHTS.... i cant see squat!
thats pretty sweet looking.....from what i can see.
Reply
HankFidel 11:11AM (8/20/2008)
Is it me or do some of the lines remind anybody else of a Mazda? RX8/Furai?
Reply
tankd0g 11:37AM (8/20/2008)
Sad really, if you don't stick the word hybrid in there no one looks at your concept anymore.
Reply
dausman 11:40AM (8/20/2008)
As far as looks go, IMO this fits in category with 8C Competizione....perhaps the most beautiful Alfa ever produced...
Very, very nice Peugeot
Reply
SPG 12:14PM (8/20/2008)
Beautiful, dreamy, gorgeous, exotic.
That's my feeling about this design.
But then again I love many Peugeot's, Renault's, and Citroen's and wish they were available in North America.
Reply
Asher Madan 12:32PM (8/20/2008)
LOOKS LIKE THE AUDI R8. I HIGHLY DOUBT THIS WILL DO ANYTHING FOR THE BRAND, I LIVE IN THE UK AND PEUGEOT IS THE LEAST RELIABLE CAR MANUFACTURER HERE. HA, HA. BUT I MUST SAY, THEY DID A GOOD JOB COPYING THE R8.
Reply
Marc-O 3:36PM (8/20/2008)
"I LIVE IN THE UK AND PEUGEOT IS THE LEAST RELIABLE CAR MANUFACTURER HERE"
I'm tempted to type in all caps so you understand the words I'm typing - I call BS on your statement.
Andrew 4:27PM (8/20/2008)
Come on, that's not true. You are just showing the traditional British hate for the French ;) Peugeots are pretty nice cars, and they are quite reliable actually.
tariq 4:32AM (8/21/2008)
y show us cars they are never gonna make?
Reply