"We are exploring what's next after the SUVs," says CEO, as firm considers a new take on the estate car
Peugeot is mulling a successor to the 508 estate as it looks to once again expand its line-up into segments besides its current hatchback and crossover offering.
The 508, Peugeot's mid-sized executive offering, was launched in 2010 as a rival to the Volkswagen Passat, Skoda Superb and Volvo S60/V60, and was available as a four-door fastback and a more popular estate.
It lasted two generations before being withdrawn from sale in the UK due to slow sales at the end of 2024 – having notched up just 7000 sales in Mk2 form here – and production stopped for good in the spring of 2025, with no third-generation car lined up.
But Peugeot CEO Alain Favey says the firm is open to exploring new segments as its future line-up takes shape and he thinks there could be space within that for a car similar to the 508 estate.
"Everybody, us included, is bringing into the market very nice SUVs of all shapes and forms," he said. "You feel that something else has to come in the future - and what is this? Something else? I think all of us, every manufacturer, is thinking about it and having plans for that."
Asked if that means the firm could return to estates (having sold them since 1950), Favey responded: "Why not? We had to stop the 508 because – as much as I dislike it, like you do – there was not enough demand to justify it remaining in the market. Now, we are exploring what's next after the SUVs and maybe there will be something that will make sense, even in that part of the market, later on.
"Will it be a station wagon, or will it be something different? I don't know. But definitely we're not excluding anything - and if we find the right recipe for the future in that part of the market, which clearly is not the 508 otherwise we would have kept it, then of course we will come back.
"The market for traditional estate cars is much smaller than it was when Peugeot launched the original 508 – a product of the rise of SUVs – but recent additions to the segment including the BYD Seal 6, Toyota bZ4X Touring and Subaru E-Outback would be natural rivals for a Peugeot 508 replacement."
