News

Peugeot Goes All-In for 2026

Peugeot doesn’t tiptoe into the new year. It kicks the door open. When the 102nd Brussels Motor Show fires up from January 9 to 18, 2026, the French brand arrives with a lineup that’s less about quiet corporate transition and more about reminding everyone that enthusiasm and electrification don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

This year’s stand reads like a mission statement made metal: French design flair, multi-energy flexibility, and a renewed obsession with making cars feel good to drive—even when electrons are doing the work.

A Brand Still Chasing Pleasure

Peugeot’s messaging is blunt and refreshingly old-school: driving should be enjoyable. Not merely efficient. Not just sustainable. Enjoyable. The company leans heavily on its heritage—more than two centuries of engineering and design—while pairing it with current-gen tech like panoramic digital cockpits, dual-motor AWD EVs, and long-range battery packs.

The result is a portfolio that spans combustion, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and fully electric vehicles without forcing buyers into a single technological lane. Peugeot isn’t betting everything on one drivetrain. It’s betting on choice.

The Headliners: 408 and an Electric GTi

The biggest reveal in Brussels is the new Peugeot 408, a saloon that leans hard into drama. It’s expressive, unexpected, and intentionally a little provocative. Peugeot wants a “wow” reaction, and judging by the design language—fastback proportions, sharp surfacing, and unapologetic French panache—that’s exactly what it’s aiming for. The 408 positions itself as a visual counterpunch to conservative midsize sedans, and Peugeot clearly expects it to act as a design ambassador for the brand.

Peugeot 408

But the real emotional hook is the new Peugeot E-208 GTi. Yes, GTi is back—and no, it doesn’t run on gasoline. This is a fully electric take on Peugeot’s most iconic badge, and Brussels will mark its first-ever appearance in Belgium. Peugeot calls it “pure driving pleasure,” and while the spec sheet matters, the symbolism matters more: the GTi name survives the EV transition intact, performance-focused, and unashamedly fun.

Core Models, Sharpened

The familiar faces are here, too—updated, refined, and increasingly tech-forward.

The Peugeot 208 remains the brand’s style leader in the compact segment, with a sporty stance and a cabin dominated by the small steering wheel, 3D digital instruments, a 10-inch HD touchscreen, and piano-key toggles that somehow still feel special in a world of touch sliders.

Peugeot 208

The Peugeot 2008 continues to blur the line between compact crossover and design object. New lighting signatures, revised alloy wheels, and a wider grille give it more visual muscle without sacrificing agility.

Then there’s the new Peugeot 308, a compact saloon that quietly does everything well. It combines restrained elegance with modern tech and real-world usability. The electric E-308 backs that up with a 361-liter trunk—proof that EV packaging doesn’t have to come at the expense of practicality.

Peugeot 308

Even more niche—and more interesting—is the E-308 SW, one of the very few electric estate cars on the market. With up to 1,402 liters of cargo space, a clever 40/20/40 folding rear seat, and details like Magic Handles that let you drop the seats from the trunk, it’s a reminder that wagons still make sense—especially when electrified.

Adventure and Utility

Peugeot hasn’t forgotten buyers who want space and versatility over sharp turn-in.

The Rifter returns in force, offering electric range up to 343 km WLTP while also making a notable comeback with petrol and diesel options thanks to its multi-energy platform. It’s rugged, modular, and unapologetically practical.

Peugeot E-3008

On the SUV front, the Peugeot 3008 steals attention with its fastback profile and the striking Panoramic i-Cockpit, dominated by a 21-inch curved display. The Brussels show highlights the E-3008 Dual Motor, pairing a 213-hp front motor with a 112-hp rear unit for a combined 325 hp and all-wheel drive. Range? Up to 497 km WLTP—strong numbers for a performance-oriented electric SUV.

The larger Peugeot 5008 follows the same philosophy, offering five- or seven-seat layouts and an expanded electric lineup. Buyers can choose between a standard electric version (up to 502 km), a Dual Motor AWD variant (up to 473 km), or a long-range configuration stretching to an impressive 668 km.

Peugeot E-5008

Vans That Mean Business

Commercial vehicles get their own spotlight at the ProOne stand. The Partner and Expert are engineered for urban reality: tight parking, low noise, and zero-emission access where regulations demand it. The E-Partner and E-Expert underline Peugeot’s strategy of treating professionals as first-class EV customers, not an afterthought.

Connected, for a Decade

Peugeot is also making a notable move in connected services. Buyers of electric models now receive e-ROUTES by Free2move Charge and E-Remote Control as part of the Connect ONE Pack—for 10 years, with no subscription required.

That means optimized EV navigation with real-time charging planning, plus remote access via the MyPeugeot app to manage charging, set battery limits, pre-condition the cabin, and even pre-heat the battery on select models like the E-3008 and E-5008. It’s a rare example of a brand simplifying ownership rather than nickel-and-diming it.

Aggressive Offers, Clear Intent

Peugeot isn’t shy about using the Brussels Motor Show to move metal. Show-specific incentives include hefty trade-in bonuses, extended warranties up to eight years or 160,000 km, 0% financing options, and generous recycling premiums—particularly relevant with stricter low-emission zone rules arriving in Brussels in 2026.

Layered on top is Peugeot’s Electric Promise: long-term vehicle and battery warranties, a free home wallbox, and access to over one million charging points across Europe.

The Takeaway

Peugeot’s Brussels presence isn’t about a single car or a single technology. It’s about momentum. The brand is leaning into electrification without abandoning personality, offering EVs that aim to excite rather than merely comply.

In a market crowded with safe bets and cautious redesigns, Peugeot shows up swinging—reviving GTi, doubling down on design, and making a credible case that the future of driving can still be fun.

And really, that’s a message worth hearing at the start of any automotive year.

Source: Peugeot

News

The Garmin dēzl DualView Is Built to Watch What Truck Mirrors Can’t

If you’ve ever spent time around a long-haul truck—or worse, driven next to one in traffic—you know blind spots aren’t just an inconvenience. They’re a physics problem measured in feet, mirrors, and unforgiving sheet metal. Garmin’s latest solution, the dēzl DualView camera system, is designed to shrink those blind spots down to something a driver can actually manage, and it does so with the kind of practicality you’d expect from a company that’s been living in dashboards for decades.

The DualView system is aimed squarely at professional drivers, not gadget collectors. Instead of chasing novelty, Garmin focused on the moments that make truck driving stressful: lane changes, tight maneuvers, and the what-just-happened chaos of an unexpected incident. The setup uses two side-mounted cameras that stream a real-time view of both sides of the truck, keeping a constant watch over the blind spots that mirrors alone can’t fully cover.

Video quality matters here, and Garmin didn’t cheap out. The cameras record in 1080p HD, automatically capturing footage when incidents occur. That means no scrambling to hit record after the fact—the system is already doing the job. Footage is stored on a microSD card, turning the DualView into both a safety aid and a rolling witness if questions come up later.

Durability is another box Garmin clearly wanted checked. The cameras carry an IPX7 rating, which translates to real-world survivability: rain, sun, and even pressure washing won’t knock them out of commission. This isn’t consumer electronics pretending to be rugged; it’s hardware built for vehicles that don’t get to hide in garages.

Inside the cab, the system is flexible about how it presents information. Drivers can view the camera feed on a dedicated in-cab display, a connected tablet, or directly on a Garmin dēzl OTR truck navigator or compatible RV navigator. When a vehicle slips into a blind spot or a lane change starts to look questionable, the system delivers visual alerts—subtle enough not to overwhelm, but clear enough to demand attention.

Garmin says the DualView was developed with real-world trucking in mind, not just lab testing or spec-sheet bragging rights. Susan Lyman, Garmin’s vice president of sales and marketing, points out that the system is meant to help drivers feel more confident behind the wheel. Just as important, recorded footage can provide an extra layer of protection when fault is disputed—an increasingly common concern in today’s dashcam-everywhere traffic ecosystem.

None of this comes cheap. The dēzl DualView goes on sale January 8 with a suggested retail price of $999.99 in the U.S. That’s not impulse-buy territory, but in the context of commercial trucking—where a single minor incident can cost far more—it’s easier to justify. You’re not just buying cameras; you’re buying situational awareness and documentation.

Garmin’s DualView won’t magically make traffic smarter or impatient drivers more predictable. But it does give truckers better information, faster, in the places where it matters most. And in a vehicle where visibility is always compromised by sheer size, that extra set of digital eyes could be the difference between a close call and a costly mistake.

In other words, it’s not flashy. It’s not fun. And that’s exactly why it makes sense.

Source: Garmin

NEW CARS

Nissan Revives Its Playful Side with the Pike-Inspired Electric Wave

Nissan is about to dive back into the European city-car pool, and this time it’s bringing a sense of humor—and history—with it. The company’s upcoming electric runabout will be called Wave, a name that feels breezy, friendly, and intentionally un-serious. That’s fitting, because the Wave is shaping up to be Nissan’s most character-driven small car in years, blending modern EV pragmatism with a design playbook lifted straight from the brand’s late-’80s cult classics.

Due next year, the Nissan Wave will be built by Renault alongside the electric Twingo, with which it shares its basic architecture. This is less badge engineering and more personality swap: same bones, different soul. And if Nissan gets it right, the Wave could do for the city-EV segment what the original Pike cars did for Japanese kei-adjacent oddities—make people smile before they even check the spec sheet.

Pike’s Peak Nostalgia

According to Nissan Europe design boss Giovanny Arroba, the Wave will take inspiration from the brand’s legendary Pike cars—a series of retro-styled small vehicles developed by Nissan’s Pike Factory special projects group in the late 1980s and early ’90s. If that sounds niche, it is—but in the best possible way.

Cars like the Be-1, Pao, Figaro, and S-Cargo were based on the first-generation Micra and leaned hard into exaggerated 1950s design cues: exposed hinges, bold door handles, side strakes, and proportions that bordered on cartoonish. They weren’t subtle, and they weren’t meant to be. When the Be-1 debuted at the 1985 Tokyo motor show, demand was so overwhelming that Nissan had to use a lottery system to decide who got to buy one of the 10,000 cars allocated for production.

That kind of enthusiasm is exactly what modern EVs—especially affordable ones—often lack.

Same Platform, Different Vibe

Under the skin, the Wave will ride on a shortened version of Renault’s AmpR Small platform, the same architecture underpinning the new electric Twingo. That means a tidy footprint—expect the Wave to match the Twingo’s 3.79-meter length—and urban-friendly proportions that prioritize maneuverability over macho posturing.

Power comes from a 27.5-kWh lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery, sourced from CATL. LFP chemistry doesn’t win bragging rights for energy density, but it’s cheaper, more durable, and better suited to the stop-and-go life of a city car. Range is expected to land around 163 miles, mirroring the Twingo and landing squarely in the “enough for real life” category.

The payoff is price. Nissan is targeting the same sub-£20,000 sticker as the Twingo, which—these days—counts as aggressively affordable in the EV world.

Retro Without the Red Ink

The clever bit is how Nissan plans to inject Pike-inspired character without blowing the budget. The Twingo already leans into retro cues of its own, referencing the original 1990s model, which gives Nissan a forgiving canvas. Think of it as remixing nostalgia rather than starting from scratch—similar to how Nissan plans to differentiate its upcoming Micra, which is based on the Renault 5.

How far Nissan will push the Pike look remains an open question. Full-on exposed hinges and novelty detailing would be delightful but potentially costly. Still, Nissan will be watching Renault closely. Its alliance partner has found real success mining heritage with the electric Renault 5 and 4, proving that retro isn’t just an aesthetic—it’s a sales strategy.

Fast, Cheap, and (Hopefully) Fun

Beyond design, the Wave benefits from the Twingo program’s ruthless focus on efficiency. Renault claims a development time of just 21 months, aided by a reduced parts count and streamlined production. Nissan gets to piggyback on those gains, which matters because the margins on small cars—especially electric ones—are notoriously thin.

That efficiency also helps explain why Nissan is re-entering a segment it abandoned more than a decade ago. The company hasn’t sold a city car in Europe since it killed off the Indian-built Pixo in 2013. But the landscape has changed. The European Union now offers “super-credits” for small EVs, counting each one as 1.3 vehicles for emissions targets. Suddenly, small electric cars aren’t just charming—they’re strategically valuable.

A Small Car With Big Intent

The Nissan Wave won’t be fast, flashy, or long-legged. It doesn’t need to be. Its job is to make electric mobility feel approachable again—to remind buyers that EVs can be cheerful appliances rather than rolling tech demos. If Nissan successfully channels even a fraction of the Pike cars’ whimsy, the Wave could stand out in a sea of anonymous jellybeans.

In an era where so many new cars feel engineered by spreadsheet, the Wave hints at something refreshingly human. Affordable, efficient, and a little bit weird—in other words, exactly what a great city car should be.

Source: Autocar

Cars and catalogues