While many auto brands die, few return from beyond the grave. Until very recently Peugeot was just an entry on the list of deceased automotive parrots, slotting between Opel and Pontiac on the List of the Fallen among brands offering cars to American consumers. The French brand last sold cars in the U.S. in 1991, but has recently confirmed plans to return by 2023. We imagined that there also might be French cars returning to America from Renault, if merger talks with FCA had been fruitful, but that ship has sailed for now.

Peugeot's official line is that few if any vehicles from the current European line up are likely to make it to the States, but that hasn’t stopped C/D from doing a bit of trans-Atlantic research. In this case, we sourced an example of the company’s newly-launched 508 in range-topping GT specification in the U.K. (which is why the steering wheel is on the wrong side). Should we be getting excited?

Apparence

The 508 is certainly handsome enough to cut it in the U.S. with strong, striking design which has been described by Peugeot’s head of design Gilles Vidal as being a “two and a half box” form. Like most of its obvious rivals, the 508 is a fastback rather than a conventional sedan—despite looking as if there's a notchy trunk, in reality the rear window is part of a very long tailgate. As such it would find itself in a busy part of the market if it came here, alongside the Audi A5, plus the Kia Stinger and the Volkswagen Arteon.

It looks as if there’s a trunk, but the 508 is a fastback with a hatch. Manufacturer

Our GT test car rode on 19-inch alloy wheels shod with 235/40 ZR 19 Michelin Pilot Sport tires. It featured LED lights in front and those at the rear already seem nearly ready for U.S. introduction. Although there is a small orange turn signal element beneath the main lighting unit, the three red marker lights also flash whenever the car is unlocked. At the front there are long LED marker light ‘tusks’ that drop from the edge of the main headlights and give the 508 a slightly vampiric appearance.

At 187 inches long overall, the 508 is close to the segment average; the Kia is 3.2 inches longer and the A5 Sportback just 0.7-inch bigger. It sits on PSA’s most up-to-date EMP2 platform, which seems certain to underpin at least some of the models coming stateside, and has a transverse engine and front-wheel drive. Peugeot plans to launch a plug-in hybrid version in Europe, which will also incorporate an electrically driven rear axle.

Sur la route

While most European 508s still pack diesel engines, the one we sampled used the most powerful gasoline engine currently available. This is a turbocharged 1.6-liter inline four. It is distantly related to the unit that powered the previous generation Mini, but is tuned to cope with Europe’s ultra-tough new emissions standards. It produces peaks of 223 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque, sending drive to the front tires through a standard eight-speed automatic.

The 1.6-liter turbocharged four is related to the one formerly used in Minis. Manufacturer

Performance is respectable but unexceptional, with a claimed 7.3-second 0-to-62 mph time making the 508 slower than the Stinger 2.0T and Alfa Romeo Giulia 2.0 TB. At lower revs the engine suffers from noticeable turbo lag, but the only way to discover this is by using the gearbox’s manual mode; left to its own devices, the transmission changes gear intelligently to keep the turbo spooled up.

Refinement is excellent at cruising speeds, despite pillarless doors front and rear. Lowlier 508s have passive dampers but the GT gets adaptive units which work well in the Comfort driving mode. Sport mode is less impressive; the 508 is not a natural athlete and the firmer setting gave the ride a jagged edge for no clear gain in sporty behavior. While the chassis responds accurately to inputs there is almost no steering feel or encouragement to press hard.

While a comfortable and relaxing place to spend time, the 508 definitely isn’t a sports sedan.

Intérieur

Reasonably roomy in front, with a high-mounted instrumented panel.

While the exterior of the 508 has little French eccentricity, there are still plenty of examples of vive le difference thinking evident in the cabin. For the most part, the interior works pretty well, being comfortable and generally well-finished. Peugeot likes to use high-mounted instruments—digital in this car—and these require a low steering wheel position if they are not going to be obscured when driving. In turn, this encourages a laid-back seating position which encroaches on the space for rear seat occupants.

Manufacturer

While reasonably roomy in front, the 508 is tight in back. Adults will struggle for legroom when sitting behind taller occupants and are also likely to bang heads when trying to get in and out. We found that mounting a large child seat was a wrestle, both to squeeze it through the door aperture and also to get it to attach to the LATCH tethers, which are accessed through awkward zippered gaps in the leather seat coverings. The trunk is long, but shallow, with 17 cubic feet of capacity comparing well to rivals.

The full-grain leather trim standard in the GT feels good and the seats proved comfortable over long journeys with the always-welcome novelty of a massage function. Other surfaces getting matching covering, including the armrest and door pulls, but there are also some less exclusive plastics. The side of the center console feels particularly cheap, where four pieces of trim—in what seem to be four different colors and grain patterns—butt against each other leaving some obvious gaps.

When we spoke to PSA’s North American President Larry Dominques recently he told us that localization of Peugeot products will encompass all details, and joked that one of the tests would be whether the cupholders were the right size. He was right to be worried; the 508’s receptacles might be up to the modest proportions of a French café-au-lait or a narrow caliber energy-drink can, but it definitely isn’t sized for Big Gulp duties, nor even your standard-size drive-through soda. A fix for the engineering team to prioritize.

Technologie

Tech is one area that the 508 already feels competitive in, certainly if the toy-store equipment of our GT test car represents anything close to U.S. specification. Branded as the i-Cockpit, in addition to the high-mounted 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster above the small steering wheel, the 508 has a 10-inch high-definition touchscreen in the center of the dashboard which serves as the main interface; even temperature settings are regulated through it. There are still secondary short-cut switches to enable this to be switched between different modes.

Manufacturer

Connectivity options include Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and there is a wireless recharging pad in a half-hidden compartment under the gear selector, as well as USB ports scattered all about.

Safety equipment includes full parking assistance, radar cruise control with an active lane- keeping function—allowing the car to steer itself if the markings are clear enough—plus a raft of active safety features.

The 508 range is priced from €32,300 in France ($36,000 at current exchange rates), with the GT being the most expensive model at €46,250 ($51,600), and those prices include the 20 percent sales tax. For reference, the cheapest version of the new BMW 3-Series in France, the 318d Lounge, is €38,450 ($42,900).

La Conclusion

The 508 might be Peugeot’s newest model, but we don’t expect it to be the brand’s opening gambit in the U.S. We believe the company will launch with a line-up heavy with SUVs and crossovers. Peugeots like the 508 or, more likely, its successor will follow—the 508 range does include a station wagon that might be ripe for the raised and clad mock-crossover treatment, though it lacks the all-wheel-drive setup found on examples like the Opel-based Buick Regal TourX.

While it is handsome, well-equipped and a pleasant place to spend time, the 508 is also lacking a level of performance and dynamic excitement that American buyers normally expect from their sports sedans. We look forward to discovering if, and how, Peugeot adapts it to U.S. tastes.

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