Business Car Manager verdict

The cosmetic changes made to the 5008 move it from a somewhat bland and anonymous MPV to something that’s altogether more stylish.

The driver’s environment is smart and refined, avoiding the current trend for tiny steering wheels and high dials to leave a steeply-raked dashboard that looks and feels a little special. Some of the buttons are a little far away though, thanks to the rather extreme angle.

Adding a bit of sci-fi to proceedings, a heads-up display pops out of the dashboard to keep you informed of your speed and sat nav instructions.

Behind the driver are another five seats, with three adult-sized seats in the middle row. Behind those are two extra seats that are realistically only usable by children. At a push you could squeeze an adult in, but they won’t thank you for it.

All the seats bend and fold in various ways, with even the front passenger seat folding flat to leave an uninterrupted and flat load space more than eight feet long. With the seats up things get a little tighter, especially in the boot, but if the rear seats are only used occasionally then you’ll not notice this.

As with its 3008 little brother, there are endless cubby holes and storage pockets dotted around. If you put your phone down, there’s a chance you may never find it again.

In terms of practicality and desirability it ticks many boxes, but the Peugeot 5008 does feel its age when it comes to efficiency and costs.

With a CO2 figure of 135g/km on the 1.6 HDi FAP engine model tested, a company drivers BIK burden will be a not insignificant 23% for 2014/15. Road tax falls into Band E.

Two years ago we may have considered those figures to be impressive, but Peugeot’s friends over at Citroen have since released the Grand C4 Picasso that manages to keep emissions down to 105g/km using the same engine, cutting company car tax by around £600 a year for 40% tax payers.

Official fuel economy of 54.3mpg is also some way off the Citroen’s 70.6mpg figure, which will not help with your running costs.

That the Peugeot is still competitive in terms of space, drivability and style is impressive, but with newer rivals offering the same level of sophistication while proving much cheaper to own means it’s tough to recommend the 5008. Which is a shame.

The Low Down…

…and what it costs