The Peugeot Quartz Concept Debuts Paris Auto Show

It will be a big mistake to checkout the 2014 Paris Auto Show without throwing in a few French vehicles, right? Even though France’s automakers are still mighty keen on turning out the weird and the different, they definitely deserve your respect for those great concepts that are exhibiting in Paris. Let’s take this Peugeot concept car, for example.

Remember at the 2014 Beijing Auto Show, Peugeot mailed an unlikely package and inside was the Exalt Concept. Skinned in an unusual combination of bare steel and a fleshy covering referred to as “shark skin,” the Exalt struck us as a Mazda 6 sedan executed with weird materials and as envisioned by Honda. Now the Exalt is back, and this time it’s attracting folks on its home turf in France.

A shallow window line and steeply raked rear screen – complete with a split spoiler – reveals Quartz to have the sporty proportions of models like the Range Rover Evoque or BMW X4. At 4,500 cm long, it sits somewhere between the Evoque and X4 in terms of size. It’s also about 100 cm longer than a Qashqai.

The interior is a development of the clean and simple i-Cockpit found in the 308. Peugeot has kept the amount of buttons and switches to a minimum while drivers get the information through a heads-up display. The compact steering wheel has controls for the indicators, driving modes and gearshifts. The materials like leather composites and basalt give the cabin a luxurious finish.

Based on Peugeot’s 308 platforms, the Quartz wears Exalt-like styling — right down to its two-tone clean-cut color scheme and is hybridized. Power comes primarily from a 270-hp turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, but an 85-kW electric engine fitted to the front axle helps out.

The Quartz, while lacking the Exalt’s bizarre sharkskin exterior covering, nonetheless embraces non-reality with a highly stylized four-place interior, a quartet of scissor doors, and 23-inch wheels with aerodynamic spats. Neat details include digitally woven interior textiles with strange patterns, LED lights, and a textured Peugeot lion badge that catches the light differently depending on the angle at which it’s viewed.

It’s probably the most interesting prototype for petrol heads out of all the French fancies on show in the capital.

The next-generation Peugeot Quartz is likely to arrive in 2016, with prices starting from around £18,000. Share your comments with us.