First look: Pug flips 207’s wig

PEUGEOT’S bigger new 207 hatch is still two months away from Australian shores but that hasn’t stopped the popular French brand revealing an all-new coupe-convertible version, based on the Epure concept from September’s Paris motor show.

Like the redesigned 207 hatch upon which it’s based, the 207 CC is a half-size larger than the original 206 CC - the world’s first (and best-selling) mass-market folding hardtop vehicle.

However, unlike the 207 hatch, which will be sold alongside the current 206 hatch well beyond its successor’s February launch next year, the 207 CC will replace the 206 CC around the middle of next year.

More than 500,000 examples of the 206 CC and 307 CC have been sold globally since 2001 (including around 360,000 206 CCs), making Peugeot the world’s number one seller of coupe-convertibles. Despite its age, the 206 hatch remains popular Down Under, where sales remain 20 per cent up on 2005 levels so far this year.

Much larger than its forebear but following the same 2+2 seating layout, the Peugeot Style Centre-designed 207 CC measures 4037mm long, 1750mm wide, 1397mm high (75mm lower than the hatchback) and rides on a 2540mm wheelbase.

Co-developed with BMW, two petrol engines will be available globally and should also be sold in Australia, but Peugeot’s own 82kW 1.6-litre HDi DPFS turbo-diesel is unlikely to be made available here, at least initially.

Dubbed EP6, the base petrol engine is a 16-valve 1.6-litre four-cylinder that produces 90kW at 6000rpm and offers 88 per cent of peak torque from 2000rpm.

First seen in the 207 GT hatch, the second BMW engine is the turbocharged "Turbo High Pressure" EP6DT, which also displaces 1.6 litres but offers 112kW at 5800rpm, with maximum torque on tap from just 1400rpm. It features a twin-scroll turbo, direct-injection and variable valve timing.

Both engines will come standard with a five-speed manual transmission, while a four-speed automatic with "Porsche System Tiptronic" manual-shift mode will be optional.

Designed in-house by Peugeot and manufactured in a dedicated PSA Peugeot Citroen Group plant in Madrid, Spain, the 207 CC’s all-new electric folding roof dispenses with the 206 CC’s manual release handles. At the push of a button, the 207 CC opens or closes all four windows and its folding roof in about 25 seconds.

Along with a far more rigid body structure, the 207 CC’s safety features include an active roll-over protection system as standard, plus five airbags. Apart from two adaptive front airbags, both the steering column airbag and the twin "head-chest" seat-mounted side airbags were designed specifically for the new CC.

Inside the lower-slung cabin are lower sports seats, while the bigger 449-litre boot accommodates a space-saver spare wheel/tyre and shrinks to 187 litres with the roof down.