FRENCH ALTERNATIVE TO THE FAMILY BUS

+ Click to Enlarge MA SQUAW'S KIDDIE MOVER: It might be based on a panel van but Peugeot's Tepee also makes a fine-looking family van - or perhaps convert one into a camper. The name suits, after all!

November 12, 2009

Peugeot SA has introduced an eight-seater bus that shares its underpinnings with the existing Expert van range.

It's called the Tepee and is intended primarily for the hospitality industry yet might appeal to large families looking for an abundance of space for people and cargo. There's 761 litres of storage space when loaded to window level and a huge 1195 litres up to the roof.

And that's before any seats have been removed.

The cabin, designed by Pininfarina, has three rows of seats, the second and third accessible through two sliding doors, one on each side of the vehicle, and the second row has a tilt/fold mechanism to allow access the third. The driver's seat has height and lumbar-support adjustments; the steering, too, can be moved to suit.

Features include cruise control, self-locking doors, speed-sensitive electro-hydraulic steering assistance and heating and aircon controls for rear passengers.

The Tepee model to be sold in South Africa also has driver and passenger crash bags and disc brakes enhanced by anti-lock and electronic pressure distribution. It's child-friendly: the front left crash bag can be disarmed and the outer second-row have child-seat anchors.

Power comes from Peugeot's 88kW/300Nm direct-injection, common-rail two-litre HDi engine that, Peugeot says, consumes 7.5 litres/100km from an 80-litre tank and drives through a six-speed manual gearbox.

The Peugeot Tepee costs R339 000.