Peugeot’s Argentina-built compact-medium 308 five-door hatchback has been updated – and renamed – with a similar, but not identical appearance and changes as the mid-2011 mid-life facelift French-built model line with which it now shares the 308 nameplate. Aligning a model more closely to what is sold currently in Europe always helps sales here in South America.
There are minor modifications, such as extra chrome trim and restyled lion logo at the front (the South American nose is different), together with detail interior changes. LED daylight running lights are now a mandatory fit on all 308s sold in Europe but here they are on just the top version, the automatic-only Feline (R$70,990/US$41,700).
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The base Active 1.6 begins at R$53,990 ($31,800), the same price as the old entry level model in a line previously badged 307.
The flexible fuel 1.6-litre/16-valve engine has been improved with variable inlet valve timing, roller fingers and higher compression ratio, which raised power from 111bhp to 120bhp (on 100% ethanol).
This engine is the first volume production, 100% ethanol-capable, flexible-fuel engine in Brazil to dispense with the separate petrol injection system and reservoir for cold starting when running on ethanol alone. The Bosch system consists of an electrically heated fuel rail for really cold starts. However, the available two-litre engine still has the older technology with a small petrol reservoir in the engine compartment.
Peugeot Brazil has also confirmed it will launch the redesigned 208 – making its European debut at Geneva next month – at the São Paulo Auto Show next October with sales starting in January 2013.
Once the 208 is here, Peugeot will have aligned its full locally-made range with the models made in Europe.
This will surely avoid the mistakes of the past, when a lightly re-done 206 (called the 206+ in Europe) in 2008 was named 207 here, with no link at all to the original 1998 model.
