Fire up the... Peugeot 3008

PEUGEOT'S 3008 is the platypus of the car world, and that's not a criticism of the way it's styled.

Although it's one of the more smartly-styled models from the French firm's fast-expanding range, the smaller sister to the seven-seater 5008 is going to give you a headache if you look at it for too long, because it gets increasingly tricky to fathom what it is. Is it a big hatchback or a small people carrier, and - if it's the latter - why's it been given just the five seats?

It's a question being posed by a growing number of car manufacturers, who between them have founds lots of you who need more space than you'd get in a Golf or Focus, but don't want to go to the expense and trouble of getting a full-blown MPV.

Unlike the 5008, where you never quite forget that you're at the wheel of a people carrier, the smaller and sportier relation shrink-wraps itself around you, a feeling helped by the intuitive controls and the surprisingly sprightly feel you get from the steering and suspension. It's not a stealth trackday contender by any means, but nor is it something which is going to let you down through a lack of communication on a slippery country lane.

But it's on the inside where it impresses most, with not only a generous helping of space both up front and in the back, but a big boot and plenty of hidden cubbyholes for the kids to hide things in. Stylistically it feels a generation further on than the 308 hatchback it's based on, with a quality finish throughout.

Both it and the very similar 5008 we tested earlier this summer make a more convincing buy than the clumsy MPVs of old - including Peugeot's own 807 - but despite the sportier drive I'd still go for the seven-seater, because in this market you never know when you're going to need the extra seats. If you don't, you might as well buy a normal hatchback.

The good news is that no matter how confusing the 3008 is, it's far from being a bad car.

As published in The Champion on September 15, 2010