The RC Hymotion is the second mid-engined four-door concept developed by Peugeot since the curious-looking 908RC.
Although the company claims it has no plans to offer this layout in showrooms, the RC reveals Peugeot's desire to re-enter the large family car market with a more inventive and – it hopes – more successful model.
“The large family car sector is under pressure,” Jean-Philippe Collin, Peugeot’s executive VP, told Autocar. “If we do something, it needs to be different, but we haven’t decided what yet.” However, Collin did admit that “the RC could be one scenario”.
Elements of the RC Hymotion - notably its diesel-hybrid powertrain, which has been co-developed with Citroen - are likely to reach future production models.
Peugeot claims the RC combines 313bhp with lowly emissions of just 109g/km CO2, aided by a drag coefficient of just 0.24.
Power is delivered from a 1.6-litre THP petrol engine at the front, and a 95bhp electric motor at the rear, which combined enable four-wheel drive.
The successor cars to the Peugeot 407 and 607, due in 2010, are the most obvious candidates to use this extremely economical hybrid system. Insiders reveal that the 408, as it’s likely to be called, is almost certain to come to market with a diesel-hybrid option.
But as Peugeot designer Boris Reinmoller confirms, the company has also built its outlandish mid-engined RC Hymotion concept to trial a new, more athletic design language - one we can also expect to see on the 408.
Sculptural signatures will include rear lamps and surrounding bodywork that appear to have been raked by the claws of a (Peugeot) lion, along with the new grille and air intake which look less startled than those of current the current Peugeot range.
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Re: Paris show: Peugeot RC Hymotion
Now this is what Peugeot needs in its stable! A great looking, muscular and well-proportioned sports sedan.
The hybrid drivetrain also looks really promising especially since the conventional petrol engine feeds through the front wheels and the electric motor feeds the rear wheels. This sounds much less complex to build and I would reckon much less complex to maintain. The simplicity of the application is beautiful, but of course it would need to be driven on proper roads to confirm that.
I do hope that Peugeot does not miss this great opportunity to build such a car as this regardless whether it's sold as the mainstream 408 or as a niche market 408 CC. :-)