Category: Peugeot

Along the new 308 SW, Peugeot will unveil at Geneva the 308 GT powered by the 175bhp 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol unit seen in the 207 GTi and in the Mini Cooper S.

The engine has been well received by the press and it is a good idea from the French carmaker to fit the turbocharged engine into the 308. It is also fitted with a new 6-speed manual gearbox. The compact model won’t be as sporty as the 207 GTi as the former will be heavier than the latter. 62mph takes 8.3 seconds; Peugeot quotes a top speed of 140mph.

Peugeot applies minor cosmetic changes on this topping version. The lower front bumper panel has a unique appearance which is combined with a rear spoiler. The car overall ride has also been lowered. On the inside, the interior gains an aluminium gear knob and foot pedals and a new steering wheel design. The 308 GT will go on sale from April.

While the 308 CC is still yet to be released, Peugeot will unveil the 308 SW at the next Geneva Motor Show. The 308 SW tries to combine the best of the estates and the MPVs.

As predicted, the production version is similar to the 308 SW Prologue concept car displayed at Frankfurt last September. The front fascia keeps the controversial corporate grille while the rear end gets a panoramic window. Compared to the 308 hatchback, the wheelbase of the 308 SW has been lengthened by 100 mm. The new car is 71 mm longer than the outgoing model. The luggage compartment grows in size to 674 litres depending on the seat configuration. With the seats removed it provides a total volume of 2,149 litres up to the level of the roof.

Like the outgoing 307 SW, the new 308 is roomy enough for 7 people which is a unique offer in the segment. A lot of attention has also been paid to the modularity of the 308 SW. The rear seats in the second row are all individual, removable, identical in size and offer a multitude of combinations. To carry seven persons, two occasional rear seats can be fitted in the third row. The two seats are available as an option or as after-sales.

The 307 SW was favoured for its large glass roof. The new 308 SW panoramic glass roof is now 27% larger (total area of 1.68 m2) and extends beyond the heads of the second row passengers.

The 308 SW will offer a wide range of petrol engines, the 95bhp 1.4-litre, followed by the 120bhp 1.6-litre unit and topped by 1.6-litre turbocharged engine with 140bhp, 150bhp and 175bhp. Along the petrol units, there will be three diesel engines, a 90bhp 1.4-litre, a 110bhp 1.6-litre and a 136bhp 1.6-litre.

The 308 SW will reach our shores in June.

The day has gone when you can drive very far on a tenner’s worth of fuel. With the average cost of fuel going well beyond £1.00 a litre, drivers are constantly reviewing their driving lifestyle. Fortunately, Peugeot is our savor thanks to the 308 HDi 90 which consumes petrol like a camel needs water.

A five-door Peugeot 308 S HDi 90 has just travelled the 117 miles round the M25 on less than a ‘tenner’ – £9.95 to be exact. Complete with two passengers and starting with the weight of a full tank of diesel fuel, the 308 returned an impressive 58.8mpg. And the car averaged slightly over 50mph.

The 308 S HDi 90 costs less than £15,000 and thanks to its CO2 emission figure of 120g/km is exempt from Congestion Charging. Suddenly, the frugality takes over the Gallic roots and the camelish 308 appears to be a tempting offer.

The 308 RC-Z concept car has been given the green light and should hit the showrooms sometime in 2009.

Company sources reveal that the future coupé will be built by Magna in Austria and will be based on the PF2 platform used by the 308 and the C4. Secrecy surrounds the future car and one doesn’t know whether the car will get specific chassis tuning. The concept car was powered by a 175bhp 1.6-litre petrol engine taken from the 207 RC. This petrol unit might be a bit too weak so, Peugeot will likely feature a bigger engine under the hood.

This is very good news for Peugeot as recent PSA CEO Christian Streiff statements remain unclear. If by “reliability, trust and elegance”, he meant 308 RCZ, we are eagerly waiting the future company’s lineup.

Source: Motorlegend

The current design strategy led by Peugeot doesn’t please everybody, especially since the car maker has released the 4007 model sporting a Hannibal Lecter grille. The discontented group might have found its most powerful ally in the PSA CEO, Christian Streiff, who wants Peugeot to make a big design change in the future.

According to company sources, Christian Streiff wants Peugeot to drop its sporty character in order to come back to the roots: robustness, trust and bourgeois elegance. One doesn’t know what sporty character means for Streiff as Peugeot cars are not very famous for being sporty. On the other hand, robustness, trust and bourgeois elegance rhymes with taxi’s requirements for a car. Does Peugeot plan to sell taxi models all around the world as it did 40 years ago with the 404 model and then the 504 model. This is an unexpected challenge for the new Peugeot CEO Jean-Philippe Collin!

Peugeot has released the final specifications and prices for its new rang-topping 207 SW, the Outdoor version which plans to attract young buyers interested in outdoor activities.

The car’s underneath features minor changes. It doesn’t adopt a four-wheel drive transmission but the ground clearance has been raised by 16 mm at the front and 21 mm at the rear. Like the late MG-Rover with 25 Streetwise model, Peugeot added large grey wheel arch mouldings and new 16” ‘Outdoor’ alloy wheels with special 205/55R 16 tyres to ensure the car can appeal to young urban people.

On the inside the 207 Outdoor receives one touch front and rear electric windows, dark tinted rear side windows and tailgate glass, washable floor mats and black or brown interior trim, but the most interesting equipment is the glass panoramic roof.

The Peugeot 207 SW Outdoor is available with one petrol engine, a 120bhp 1.6-litre unit. There are also to oil burners, a 1.6-litre producing 90bhp and 110bhp . The Outdoor version starts at £13,650 for the Sport Outdoor 1.6 VTi 120, followed Sport Outdoor HDi 90 at £14,020 and topped by the Sport Outdoor HDi 110 at £14,740.

Until yesterday it was thought that Peugeot and Citroen’s priority was to conquer the German market. But in an interview with Automotive New Europe, vice president Frederic Saint-Geours said that PSA has “to develop specific offerings for each market”. The French group wants to cover up to 90% of the market by expanding its future range on both extremities. Peugeot and Citroen will offer a low cost model but also, in a very surprising move, some premium models.

No information has been given concerning either direction, but the recent C-Cactus concept car gives us a rough idea of what the French manufacturer is currently working on for the budget model. As I mentioned, the premium models are a surprise. The only current premium model, the Citroën C6, does not sell particularly well despite good reviews from the motoring press. Nobody thought that Peugeot or Citroën would plan to compete with the ubiquitous German cars on the upper segments. This is a good news and I am looking forward to seeing more premium models with a Gallic taste.

Competing on all segments will require considerable resources. In order to cut cost and decrease time development, Peugeot and Citroën product departments will be centralized.

The success of the C-Crosser on the British market has caused the media to speculate on further cooperations between Mitsubishi and PSA. While some rumours concern a Citroën pick up based on the Mitsubishi L200, other insiders report the possible return of Peugeot saloons on the American market thanks to Mitsubishi’s presence there.

This is not the first time that such a rumour has circulated. In 2000, it was said that Peugeot was thinking of exporting the Peugeot 607 onto American soil. Even though Jean-Martin Folz, PSA CEO denied the rumour at the time, Peugeot was conducting many surveys on how and what to launch in the USA. In 2004 Peugeot took a further step by launching a redesigned 607 that satisfied American regulations.

The first car that could be launched is the future 408 that will succeed the current 407 around 2011-2012. The saloon could be produced in the Mitsubishi’s Illinois plant but only sold in South America according to insiders. This is hard to believe when Peugeot already has a plant in Argentina. It makes sense to sell the future 408 in the USA if the car is being built there.

However, instead of the Peugeot cars PSA should sell Citroën, which still has a strong brand image thanks to iconic models like the DS or SM. The Citroën even won a design award in New York in 2005.

Insiders also say that PSA is reluctant to enter the US market due to the poor image of France in America, linked to the former’s refusal to support the US-led invasion of Iraq.

These recent spyshots reveal that the new 407 Coupé is very close to its launch. Contrary to the 406 Coupé it replaces, the 407 was not drawn by Pininfarina but by Peugeot’s designers, ruled by Gérard Welter. This coupe does not seem as elegant as its predecessor, but then, stringent European norms imposed this heavy front end. The cabin remains very similar to that of the 407 saloon. Accommodation should appear to be asset for this coupe, which should offer the same superb handling and ride as the saloon. As for the engines, the petrol 2.2 160bhp, the 3.0 V6 210bhp and the 2.2 160bhp block may be available. Prices are not known yet but they will surely be competitive.