The Brussels Motor Show is in full swing, and Peugeot has brought a familiar face with a sharper edge. The refreshed 408 makes its debut with a sportier, more upscale design along with a few well-placed upgrades.

The changes are immediately apparent as the fastback crossover has been ‘defanged.’ As part of the makeover, the model adopts split lighting units with an upper section that has three “claws.” These serve as daytime running lights as well as animated turn signals.

More: Peugeot 408 Coupe Crossover Lands In Paris To Banish Boring Family Cars

The headlights reside below and are “almost invisible” as they’re surrounded by gloss black accents. This enables them to effectively blend into the background.

Designers gave the 408 a more expressive grille that features an illuminated logo on higher-end variants. The Lion badge also has a radar sensor hidden behind it, which helps to create a cleaner appearance.

Elsewhere, there’s a new bumper and a revised central intake. The latter trades a honeycomb mesh pattern for horizontal lines.

The rear end largely carries over, but the traditional logo has been replaced by illuminated “Peugeot” lettering. This is a first for the company and it’s joined by gloss black accents as well as revamped taillights.

Last but not least, the model rides on updated wheels ranging in sizes from 17- to 20-inches. Customers will also find a revised color palette that includes an exclusive new color known as Flare Green. It changes from bright yellow in sunlight to deep green in shadows.

Minor Interior Changes

While exterior styling changes are pretty noticeable, the same can’t be said about interior updates. These blend into the background, but include updated trim and upholstery.

The model also gains a new 10-inch digital instrument cluster, which sports improved graphics. It’s joined by a familiar 10-inch infotainment system.

An Updated EV With New Features

The E-408 carries over with a 58.2 kWh NMC battery pack, which feeds an electric motor developing 210 hp (157 kW / 213 PS) and 253 lb-ft (343 Nm) of torque. This enables the model to have a WLTP combined range of 283 miles (456 km).

While the powertrain will give you déjà vu, there are several new features including a battery pre-conditioning system. In cold weather, owners can tell the battery to heat up at the touch of a digital button. The GT trim takes this up a notch as navigating to a charging station will automatically trigger battery pre-conditioning at the perfect time.

Customers will also find a new Plug & Charge capability as well as a Vehicle To Load function that delivers up to 3.5 kW of power. The model also has a new “80% charge limit” function for AC charging at home.

Hybrid And Plug-In Hybrid Power Too

If you’re not ready to go fully electric, you can opt for a plug-in hybrid powertrain that consists of a 178 hp (132 kW / 180 PS) petrol engine, a 123 hp (92 kW / 125 PS) electric motor, a 14.6 kWh lithium-ion battery, and a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. This enables the crossover to have a combined output of 237 hp (177 kW / 240 PS) and an electric-only range of up to 53 miles (85 km).

Customers can also opt for a hybrid variant, which has a petrol engine with 143 hp (107 kW / 145 PS). It’s connected to an electrified six-speed dual-clutch transmission and the model consumes 5.0 L/100 km (47 mpg US) in the WLTP combined cycle.

Peugeot has followed up on last week’s tease of its Polygon concept by giving us a proper look at the futuristic hatch, and now we’re even more pumped for the arrival of the next 208.

Though the French brand doesn’t specifically mention the 208 in its concept blurb, it’s clear that what we’re looking at gives us some strong pointers to both the design and technical makeup of the next-generation supermini due in 2027.

Related: Peugeot’s Next 208 Wants To Reinvent The Wheel

Sure, the extra-long gullwing doors will be swapped for four conventional ones by the time the production 208 appears. But the overall design language, the pinched waist, broad shoulders, large glass area and focus on recycled materials all hint at where the big-selling supermini – and all future Peugeots – are heading.

Details like charging port and LED charge status indicator in the C-pillar (which reference the classic 205’s design) seem like strong candidates for the production treatment, as are the horizontally oriented reimagining of the brand’s now familiar three-claw light signature.

But it’s the Polygon’s interior that Peugeot really wants us to focus on. It gets a next-generation take on the i-Cockpit interior, which for a decade has been placing the instruments above the steering wheel to make them more visible to drivers.

Here, the entire windshield becomes a gauge cluster and infotainment screen that’s equivalent to having a 31-inch display.

The focal point, though, is the Hypersquare rectangular steering wheel, something Peugeot began teasing on concepts a couple of years ago.

Each of the four circles within the wheel is a pod containing key controls, and steer-by-wire tech means the wheel’s gearing can be increased at parking speeds, reducing the number of turns to less than one.

Peugeot says it’s no mere show-car fantasy, either. Both the wheel and the steer-by-wire tech that “connects” it to the driving wheels will be on a production Peugeot by 2027, the company says, meaning the next 208.

Peugeot

If you thought Peugeot planned to just tweak its designs for the next chapter, think again. The French brand has dropped a single teaser image of its new “Polygon” concept, a strong preview not just of the coming generation of its big-selling 208, but of an entire reinvention of its design language.

Related: Hypersquare Steering On Road Cars By 2026, Peugeot CEO Says

There’s no half-measure here. Peugeot’s current lineup of cars and SUVs is already distinctive, but the company’s designers seem to have no qualms about moving on with an even more futuristic theme.

Hints of the Past, Vision of the Future

However, you can still see echoes of the classic 205 in the triangular-shaped B-pillar and its pill-shaped badges. That’s about where the retro cues end, though.

The Polygon’s long, near-horizontal windshield looks like the kind of thing you’d expect to see on a mid-engined exotic, not a humble subcompact, and the wheels are pushed so far out you can almost feel the tension in the doorskin, which is pinched to exaggerate a lean, muscular look.

The grille-less nose tells us this is an EV and could be carried over to production mostly intact, though we doubt the partially-glazed roof will manage the same kind of transition.

Steer-by-Wire Takes Center Stage

One aspect that definitely will, though, is the steer-by-wire system, which Peugeot says is “central to the driving pleasure of future Peugeot vehicles and the Polygon concept itself.”

The high-tech steering system – Lexus uses something similar on the RZ – gets a suitably futuristic new steering wheel, that we can’t really see on this teaser image, but were introduced to on a previous Peugeot concept in 2023.

Called Hypersquare (though actually rectangular), the wheel has four holes, a design echoed in the four road wheels.

Shared DNA Across Stellantis Brands

Like its Stellantis cousin, the next Vauxhall/Opel Corsa, which was previewed in August by the 789 hp (800 PS / 588 kW) GSE Vision Gran Turismo concept, the production 208 is expected to ride on the new STLA Small platform when its unveiled late in 2026.

We’ll have to wait for the full Polygon reveal next week to get our hands on any tech spec, but don’t be surprised if it’s packing the same 82 kWh battery the GSE promised, something that would represent a big step up over the 52 kWh pack in the current e-208.

Peugeot’s 2023 Inception concept teased the Hypersquare steering wheel