Thursday, October 15, 2009
• More space in a smaller package
• Improved quality and dynamics
• New 408 to replace 407 and 607
Peugeot's forthcoming 208 will buck the trend of vehicles getting bigger, by being smaller than the car it replaces.
Despite this, the replacement for Peugeot's best-selling 207 supermini will offer more interior space and improved quality, although not at a premium price.
Peugeot's CEO, Jean-Marc Gales, said: 'The next 207 and 407 will be a clear indication that Peugeot has changed and will show the future direction of the brand.'
The 208, (as we expect it to be called) will take design cues from the 205 and 206 superminis. Peugeot also hopes to regain its reputation for making great-riding, great-handling cars, helped by the company designing and building its own shock absorbers.
Don't expect to see the 208 in showrooms until at least 2012.
407 replacement
Before then, however, a radical 407 replacement will go on sale – probably in 2011.
Although it will be wider (but not necessarily longer) than the current car, it will offer similar rear space to the current 607, with special upmarket models replacing Peugeot's unloved executive model.
We expect the 407 replacement to take the 408 badge, with Jean-Marc Gales saying that the company will stick with the current numbered model categorisation 'for the time being'.
2010 will be an important year for Peugeot. Following the arrival of the 3008 this month, the 5008 compact MPV will be launched in January, followed by the RCZ coupe and the iOn electric car.
Peugeot will also be celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2010.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
• Citroens more creative, Peugeots for drivers
• Peugeot undergoing brand re-evaluation
• 5008 shows new design direction
Citroens and Peugeots will be 'more different' in the future, according to the new boss of PSA, the parent company of both car makers.
Jean-Marc Gales, who is also Peugeot's CEO, said that PSA is redefining the DNA of both brands and what they should mean in the future, without ignoring their strong history.
Gales explained: 'You should really drive a Peugeot, while Citroens are more about creativity.
'It's clearly seen in the Peugeot 5008 and Citroen C4 Picasso. The 5008 is more geometric, while the C4 Picasso is more rounded, more Citroen-like.
'Inside, the 5008 has a more traditional and clear design, whereas the C4, with its central instruments, is more different.'
Our first drive of the 5008 confirmed the different directions of the brands, with the 5008 being more driver-focused and the Citroen softer-riding and more comfort-oriented.
Gales described the new Citroen C3 and C3 Picasso as 'typically Citroen' and said that he couldn't imagine a Peugeot version of the C3 Picasso. Equally, the new Peugeot RCZ coupe would not be seen as a Citroen.
Different looks – similar prices
While both the look and feel of Citroens and Peugeots will be more different in future, prices are set to be similar. Emissions, quality and safety standards will be standardised across both brands.
The future
Peugeot is undergoing a brand re-evaluation process, the results of which will start to be seen from next year.
According to Gales, cars from Peugeot's heritage that the company should draw on include the 504 Coupe and Convertible, the 406 Coupe and the 205 GTi. When quizzed about Peugeot's future design direction, he said that the new 5008 gave big clues.
Gales also promised that more development work on Peugeots would be carried out in the UK at an earlier stage in the development process: 'At the moment, work done in the UK is too late,' he said.
Electric cars are high on Peugeot's agenda, with the iOn (Peugeot's version of the Mitsubishi i Miev) to go on sale next year and a decision on whether the show-stopping BB1 concept car, shown at the Frankfurt motor show last month, will make it into production is due soon.
Bron Whatcar