About a year ago, PSA Peugeot-Citroën group announced an agreement with Mitsubishi to develop and adapt the Japanese manufacturer’s ASX small crossover for its two brands in Europe and possibly other markets down the road.
Now, spy photographers have captured the Peugeot-branded version of the Mitsubishi ASX, which is also called the Outlander Sport in the USA, and RVR in Japan and Canada, while testing in Europe and here are the very first spy photos of the new baby SUV from the French PSA group.
After the successful co-operation with the first model, the Outlander based 4007 (and Citroen C-Crosser) the co-operation on the SUVs will continue.
It isn’t yet for sure, but expect the Peugeot version to get the 2008 name, while it’s still unclear what the Citroen version would be called. However, for Citroen this is an important step, considering that this move will allow Peugeot and Citroen to offer a mid-size SUV to compete against the Skoda Yeti and Nissan Juke.
Expect the new model to get its power from a 1.6 liter HDI engine and to be offered in both two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive. In addition, there will also be a 1.6 liter VTI petrol engine delivering some 120 horsepower for those who like to have a petrol car instead of the diesel.
The new PSA SUV will be official in Europe during 2012, probably in Paris in September 2012. The PSA group is expecting the compact SUV market to grow about 60 % in the next couple of years and are calculating a sales figure about 50.000 units of their versions, both as Peugeot and Citroen.
Prices will likely kick off below the $30,000 mark but above the Mitsubishi ASX price (around $25,000).
Images: CarPix
