Peugeot Rifter

Peugeot Rifter is a boxy passenger van for families, tradespeople, and anyone who cares more about sliding-door practicality than about style points. By our assessment, its main strength is the upright cabin and easy loading shape, which makes it one of the more useful small vans in Peugeot's range. The obvious compromise is that the tall body and van-based layout bring a more workaday feel, with less polish in driving manners than a sleek SUV or a regular hatchback. In practice it is the kind of vehicle that makes sense when doors, seats, and cargo space matter every day, because its shape is designed around that use first. Against crossovers it gives up a little image and road finesse, but it returns real room and straightforward access. The Rifter is for people who need the square-meter logic of a van with enough passenger comfort to live with it, and the sliding doors do a lot of the daily work.