All You Need To Know About Peugeot's Striking Exalt Concept

After the recent leak, Peugeot's follow-up to the Onyx concept has been officially revealed. The first thing to strike us is that raw materials are clearly the theme for this sleek five-door saloon; they crop up all over the place.

The body is made from hand-beaten raw, unpainted steel, while the rear end is coated in a textile inspired by shark skin, apparently to reduce the drag coefficient. It's the same story on the inside: the aged leather hasn't been chemically treated, there's lashings of wood, and the roof and interior of the doors are covered in a natural fabric mix.

Under the bonnet, you'll find the same 270bhp 1.6-litre turbo four-pot seen in the RCZ-R, although the Exalt gets an extra 70bhp from an electric motor. The motor is also able to harvest energy from the rear axle under braking, which can be used to recharge the battery.

The total 340bhp output is shared between all four wheels. Sounds a healthy figure, but it needs to be; with all the fancy materials, the Exalt tips the scales at a relatively lardy 1700kg.

Of course, we won't be getting excited about Peugeot putting anything remotely like this into production; the French carmaker has a track record of producing extravagant concepts that bear little resemblance to what it actually puts on the road.

What we can expect is a few of the design touches and some of the technology showcased in the Exalt to make an appearance on the more humble Pugs that actually leave the showrooms. It would be nice to be proven wrong, though...