PARIS — Peugeot will present the next-generation 308 compact on March 18, executives mentioned on the unveiling of the model’s new emblem.
Peugeot has not launched any particulars in regards to the coming 308, however it’s anticipated to be constructed on the EMP2 platform developed by PSA Group for compact and midsize automobiles. That may enable for gasoline, diesel and plug-in hybrid variations. Nonetheless, the brand new Citroen C4 compact hatchback is constructed on the smaller CMP platform, which features a full-electric possibility.
Current spy pictures of camouflaged take a look at automobiles confirmed a station wagon variant. The 308 can be anticipated to share underpinnings with the next-generation Opel/Vauxhall Astra compact automobile.
The brand new emblem – a white-on-black stylized lion’s head inside a protect – recollects Peugeot’s emblem from the early Nineteen Sixties. The present emblem dates to 2010.
CEO Linda Jackson, who had led Citroen, Peugeot’s sister model, from 2014 to 2020, made her public debut as head of Peugeot on the on-line occasion Thursday. She mentioned Peugeot had efficiently moved upmarket previously decade and was now a “excessive finish generalist model.”
“The present emblem wanted to alter to crown the model’s transfer upmarket,” Peugeot mentioned in a information launch.
Jackson mentioned considered one of her objectives is to develop Peugeot outdoors of Europe, citing the Landtrek one-ton pickup as a “main alternative.” She didn’t handle the query of whether or not Peugeot would re-enter the North American market, a method at Europe-dependent PSA earlier than the merger with Fiat Chrysler to create Stellantis.
FCA’s North American manufacturers have given the brand new group a big presence in that market.
The 308 ranked No. 6 within the compact phase in 2020 with 89,644 gross sales, a decline of 41 %, in keeping with information from JATO Dynamics. The Volkswagen Golf led the phase with 283,651 gross sales, a 31 % decline.
The phase fell to 3rd place total in Europe, with 1,723,367 gross sales, a 22 % decline, in keeping with JATO figures. The small SUV/crossover segments overtook compacts to complete second, with 1,725,984 gross sales, an 18 % drop. The small automobile phase led Europe with 2,029,376 gross sales, a 25 % slide.