Thanks to the 208, 3008 and 2008 (in that order) Peugeot is holding on to a strong third position in its largest regional market behind Renault and Volkswagen. A new version of its best seller, revealed three months ago but not yet available, has strong looks and has generated a large bank of orders. In contrast to that good fortune in Europe, the picture in China is much darker, however.
While ACEA data for May is awaited, April was a good month for Peugeot in Europe. Even though the new 208 is known about, the existing car remains popular, its sales (84,054) being only slightly behind the Ford Fiesta (84,703) and giving it seventh position overall for the year to date. Neither of these models can catch the Polo (102,410) and segment-leading Clio (119,774) though.
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By GlobalDataAlas for PSA, by contrast, the picture in China is somewhat less than great. While the overall market for locally made models fell by seven per cent to 1,527,844 passenger vehicles (and 6,647,100 YtD, -2.4 per cent) in April, Peugeot’s numbers plummeted by 61.4 per cent to 6,320 vehicles and by 55.7 per cent to 25,618 units. The 4008, which was the best performing model in April, was in 225th position with retail sales of 1,605 vehicles.
For now at least, PSA is staying put in the world’s number one market but with Citroen (24,306 sales YtD, -43.2 per cent) and DS (-12.1 per cent to just 1,104 vehicles) in deep difficulties too, questions are being asked about how long this state of affairs can be sustained.
Cars
The 108, which is smallest model for the lion logo brand (not including the low volume, Mitsubishi-supplied electric iOn), is due for a facelift soon. When or even if it will be directly replaced is not certain.
This car, which was the replacement for the 107, had its global debut at the Geneva motor show in March 2014. Production commenced at the PSA and Toyota Motor Europe JV plant in the Czech Republic during May 2014, with the first cars in European dealerships from the following month (July for the UK and Ireland). As was the case with the 107, the 108 is one of three near-identical models, the other cars being the Toyota Aygo and Citroën C1.
Groupe PSA and Toyota Motor Europe issued a media release in November 2018 stating that they would end their JV which builds the Aygo, 108 and C1. TME will take control of the plant in January 2021. It is not clear how long TME will manufacture the existing three cars for and whether or not there will be replacements for any of them. The previous generation models were built for nine years. In January 2021, the Aygo, 108 and C1 will have been in production for six and a half years.
The new 208, seen for the first time at the Geneva motor show three months ago, uses CMP, an architecture co-developed by Groupe PSA and Dongfeng Motor. As for the styling, this picks up cues from the 508, especially at the front where the suggestion of slashes made by the nails of a lion’s claw shape the DRL. At the rear, the word PEUGEOT is picked out in small letters.
In contrast to its rival the new Clio, this car looks genuinely different to the outgoing model so it will be fascinating to see if the little Peugeot can turn the tables and outsell the Renault. Production starts in September and the life cycle should be seven years, with a facelift in 2023.
The next 308 should make its world debut at the Geneva motor show in March 2020 and be in LHD European dealerships six months later. There might be an EV version too but that depends on which architecture the vehicle uses. If it is based on CMP then the electrified 308 will be an EV but if it uses EMP2 then it will be a PHEV. Aside from France, the current 308 has not been a strong seller in most European countries so PSA will be hoping for a far better performance from the next generation car. However, with the eighth generation Golf by then only months old, the timing of the new 308’s arrival isn’t ideal.
The 408 is a C segment sedan for the Chinese market. Its world premiere was at April 2014’s Beijing motor show and sales commenced four months later. This, the second generation 408, is effectively a four-door version of the 308 though confusingly, there is also a Chinese-built 308 Sedan. The successor is expected in 2021 although it might arrive during the latter part of 2020: certainly Dongfeng Peugeot needs as many fresh models as it can get, as soon as possible.
Groupe PSA took the radical step of making the second generation 508 a hatchback instead of a sedan. That means it is aimed at the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia, Kia Stinger, Ford Mondeo and VW Arteon plus the Skodas Octavia and Superb. Deliveries for all of Europe numbered 10,422 units during the first four months, and in China, volume for the locally built model was just 874 vehicles (retail sales).
The estate was announced to the media in June 2018 and revealed at the Paris motor show five months later, going on sale across Europe from early 2019. The 4,778mm long Sport Wagon has the same frameless design for its side windows as the standard wheelbase hatchback. Its wheelbase is 2,793mm long, while China’s car has frames for its doors’ glass, a wheelbase which is 55mm longer and an overall length of 4,856mm.
Even though sales of the old model were minimal in RHD markets, PSA offers the car with right-hand drive. This is in contrast to Renault’s policy of only building the similarly sized Talisman in LHD form.
The 4,750mm long 508 hatchback had its public debut at the Geneva motor show in March 2018. The body style is termed a “five-door fastback coupé-saloon” by PSA. The car is lower and shorter (from 4.83m to 4.75) than the former 508 sedan. The boot’s capacity is 487 litres. There is more headroom in the back of the SW than there is in the hatchback as the estate’s roofline does not slope so acutely behind the B pillars.
Engines are manufactured at PSA’s Trémery and Douvrin plants, while the car itself is built at another French factory: Mulhouse. Production in China is in partnership with Dongfeng Motor at one of the Wuhan plants. The Chinese car is called 508L. Both are due to be facelifted in 2022 and replaced in 2025.
Crossovers & SUVs
The next 2008 is likely to have its world premiere later this year at the Frankfurt IAA. Production will take place on Line 1 at the Vigo plant in Spain. The architecture will be CMP. As with the existing 2008, the next one should stay in production for seven years, which means a facelift in 2023.
The second generation 3008, one of the best sellers in the European market’s C-crossover/SUV segment, is coming up for three years old. Announced to the media in May 2016, its public debut took place at the Paris motor show four months later. The Opel/Vauxhall Grandland X is manufactured at Groupe PSA’s Sochaux plant on the same line as the 3008. This similarly sized SUV is closely related to the Peugeot.
The next generation 3008 should be one of the vehicles with which Peugeot will return to the USA. Groupe PSA stated that the brand would be launched there during the 2020s. The third generation model is due for market release in Europe in late 2023, which will be roughly three years after the current T94 series model is facelifted.
The 4008, a special model for China, can be thought of as a 3008 with a slightly longer, modified body. This front-wheel drive crossover premiered at the Chengdu motor show in September 2016. It went on sale locally immediately after the show. There are three turbocharged petrol engines: 1.2, 1.6 & 1.8. The 4008 is manufactured in Chengdu by Dongfeng Peugeot. In April, the JV delivered 2,721 units of the 4008, which was about the same number as the Jeep Compass. A facelift is due in 2020 and a replacement in 2023.
There are unconfirmed reports that Groupe PSA will add production of the 4008 to one of its European plants in 2020. However, this model could instead be a coupe-crossover and not the same vehicle as China’s 4008.
The successor for the 5008, formerly a C segment MPV, was originally being developed under the T97 project code. In December 2012, however, General Motors and PSA stated that a new Peugeot C-segment MPV would be co-developed. This was understood to mean the twinning of the Opel/Vauxhall Zafira Tourer and Peugeot 5008 successors. PSA, having seen the European people carrier segment shrinking, took the decision to make the second generation 5008 a seven-seater SUV. It is 11cm longer than the first 5008.
The new 5008 was announced to the media in September 2016 a few weeks before its public debut at the Paris motor show. One of the strange things about what is claimed to be an SUV is that, like the 2008, AWD is not available: all variants are front-wheel drive so it should really be thought of as a crossover. The 5008 is 4,641mm long and has a 2,840mm long wheelbase.
As well as at Rennes, the 5008 is built in China: in July 2014, PSA and Dongfeng revealed plans to erect a new plant in city of Chengdu (Sichuan province). With total capacity of 300,000 vehicles a year, DPCA’s fourth plant would build Dongfeng Citroën and Dongfeng Peugeot and Fengshen-badged SUVs and MPVs, the partners announced. The plant was inaugurated in September 2016 with the first examples of the 5008 rolling off the line there two months later. The first 5008s were also built at Rennes in November 2016 but in February 2017, Groupe PSA announced that strong demand for the 3008 meant it would delay series production of the 5008 for a few months. It finally commenced in May 2017.
The next generation 5008 (due in 2024) should be one of the vehicles with which Peugeot will return to the USA. Groupe PSA has stated that the brand would be launched there during the 2020s.
Electrified
The e-208 is an electric version of the 208 powered by one motor. It was announced to the media just ahead of its world premiere alongside the 208 at this year’s Geneva motor show. The first deliveries are scheduled for October. The company says the e-208 weighs roughly 250kg more than a 208 with a combustion engine.
This variant has a body-coloured grille as well as special badges on the tailgate and on the car’s sides. The single motor – supplied by Continental – is claimed to have outputs of 100kW and 260Nm, while there are three driving modes. Space inside the car and its boot are said to be identical to that of the petrol and diesel versions. The cells are located under the back seat, which is where the fuel tank would otherwise be.
A 50kWh battery pack – part of a PSA-Nidec joint venture – offers range of up to 340km according to the WLTP (Worldwide harmonised Light vehicles Test Procedures) certification protocol or 450km according to NEDC (New European Driving Cycle). The battery ‘is guaranteed for eight years or 160,000 km for 70% of its charge capacity’.
Unlike other versions of the 208, the electric one will be made solely in Slovakia.
There will be a fully electric version of the second generation 2008. At the presentation of the DPCA strategic plan on 11 May 2016, Carlos Tavares and Zhu Yanfeng, the respective chairmen of DPCA’s two company shareholders, signed an agreement to design a BEV version of the Common Modular Platform (CMP). This, e-CMP, is for fully electric B and C segment vehicles: the DS 3 Crossback e-Tense was the first model for this architecture and the e-208 the second.
Groupe PSA executives stated at a capital markets day in September 2017 that an electric 2008 would be on sale during the first half of 2020. The model name should be e-2008. Production would be at the Vigo plant in Spain, with a life cycle of seven years.
A 1.6-litre plug-in hybrid petrol powertrain is due to become available in the 508 and 508 SW from October. The cars were announced to the media in September 2018 and made their public premieres at the Paris motor show soon after. Even though they are PHEVs, the model names are 508 Hybrid and 508 SW Hybrid. It isn’t yet known if Dongfeng Peugeot’s 508L will also become electrified although this does seem highly likely given how generous incentives for PHEVs can be in certain Chinese cities.
Peugeot claims that there is no loss of boot space as the battery pack is located below the floor of the luggage compartment. There is however, a major downside to this, which is the fact that there is no spare tyre. Luggage capacity is claimed to be 485l. As for the transmission, this will be an eight-speed Aisin automatic.
The car’s range on electricity alone is claimed to be as much as 50km (WLTP). A higher performance variant was previewed by the 508 Peugeot Sport Engineered concept, a hatchback which was a world premiere at the 2019 Geneva motor show. The prototype was powered by a turbocharged petrol engine and one motor which had claimed combined torque of 500Nm.
Groupe PSA’s electrification policy is to have fully electric smaller models (CMP architecture vehicles), with petrol-electric plug-in hybrid versions of its bigger (EMP2 architecture) vehicles.
The line-up of EMP2-based PHEVs will include the DS 7 E-Tense 4×4, Peugeot 3008 Hybrid4, Peugeot 508 Hybrid, Peugeot 508 SW Hybrid, Citroen C5 Aircross, Opel Grandland X Hybrid4 and Vauxhall Grandland X Hybrid4. There are two versions of the PHEV system, with a two-motor option producing around 300PS and sending drive to both axles or a single-motor delivering around 250PS for front-wheel drive applications.
Reports for many other manufacturers’ future models are grouped in the OEM product strategy summaries section of just-auto.com.
Future product program intelligence
More detail on past, current and forthcoming models can be found in PLDB, the future vehicles database which is part of QUBE. Other Peugeot models not mentioned in this report, such as the 301, 3008 Hybrid, Rifter, one-tonne pick-ups, Traveller and iOn can also be found in PLDB.
The next brand to be covered in the Groupe PSA series will be Citroën.
