New Peugeot 308 opens fresh model flood

Peugeot Cars Australia has launched the all-important and long-awaited new 2022 Peugeot 308 Hatch and 308 Wagon range, a new potential volume-seller for the French brand as it heads into 2023 with a further five new model releases on the horizon.

While PCA managing director Kate Gillis would not comment on sales forecasts for the new Peugeot 308, she did say the brand’s existing customer base was mostly driving a 308 and many of them expressed an interest in trading up.

“Of our existing customers, where we have most cars in the market is the 308. We have a very strong reaction from existing owners in potentially upgrading into the new 308,” said Gillis.

The local Peugeot importer says it’s not worried about the decline in small-car sales in Australia, where new-vehicle buyers are flocking to other segments including utes and SUVs. Sales of small cars are down a further 22 per cent to October this year.

“Whilst the market is quite focussed on things like utes or the SUV, there are still quite a few customers out there who do want a small hatch or do want a small wagon, so there’s opportunity to provide them with really compelling product.”

Gillis said she would not send the brand down the path of “buying market share”, but more sales is what the brand desperately needs in Australia. In the first 10 months of 2022, Peugeot sales were down 21 per cent on the same period in 2021 and the brand accounted for just 0.2 per cent of the total new-car market.

Peugeot’s biggest sellers, the 2008 and 3008 small SUVs, are both down more than 30 per cent year-on-year, while only the Expert commercial van had a significant uptick in sales – up 14.8 per cent, from 230 to 264 sales. The 508 was up 24.5 per cent, but from a low base of 94 sales in 2021 to 117 sales in 2022.

Fresh products are what Peugeot needs and the new 2022 Peugeot 308 arrives in showrooms this week, albeit with a starting price of $43,990 for the entry-level 308 GT Hatch variant, increasing to $48,990 for the upper-spec 308 GT Premium Hatch and $50,490 for the only 308 wagon offering, the 308 GT Premium Wagon (all prices exclude on-road costs).

All new Peugeot 308 vehicles arriving this year will be powered by a carry-over 96kW/230Nm 1.2-litre turbo-petrol three-cylinder engine matched as standard with an eight-speed auto. Aside from the obvious design refresh and its almost completely renovated EMP2 platform, technology is the centrepiece of the new model.

A new 3D, 10-inch i-Cockpit digital instrument cluster and 10-inch infotainment screen house many new features such as free WiFi navigation access for three years, renewable on subscription.

Further afield, PCA has an extensive new-model rollout planned for 2023, but the battery-electric Peugeot E-308 is so far not on the list.

Instead, the headline act next year will be the new Peugeot 408 mid-size fastback SUV. PCA would not comment on exact launch timing or local specifications for the new 408, but did confirm the all-new model will arrive here in 2023. Given the 408 only launches in Europe in the first quarter of next year, it would be realistic to expect a third- or fourth-quarter release in Australia.

Riding on a 2790mm wheelbase and 20-inch alloy wheels as standard, the 4690mm-long new Peugeot 408 will be a point of difference within the wagon-dominated mainstream mid-size SUV segment, where currently only the recent Haval H6 GT is offered as a ‘coupe-style’ fastback SUV.

Of course, the concept itself is not new; there are plenty of coupe-style mid-size luxury SUVs, like the Audi Q5 Sportback, BMW X4 and Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe.

While the global 408 range will include one petrol, two plug-in hybrid and even a battery-electric powertrain, local specification details are off the menu for now.

“As you know, there’s a petrol and a PHEV available in 408,” was all Gillis would say on the matter, perhaps suggesting that local powertrain options will include these two but not the full-electric model slated for launch in Europe.

Full powertrain details have not been made available ahead of the new 408’s global launch, but we do know the only petrol offering will be the 1.2-litre turbo triple, good in this application for 97kW.

PHEVs will be an evolution of the 1.6-litre turbo-petrol based system already seen in 3008 and 508 with 134kW and 168kW outputs.

Beyond the Lamborghini Urus-mimicking new Peugeot 408, there is plenty else going on for Peugeot in Australia next year.

The company’s first ever EV will arrive in 2023, in the form of a light commercial vehicle. PCA would not divulge any further details, but there are electric ‘e’ versions of the small Partner, medium Expert and larger Boxer vans in Europe.

PCA has also confirmed it will release another electric vehicle in 2023 – either the e-208 light hatch or the e-2008 small SUV, but Gillis would not be drawn on which model or when in 2023.

Both the e-208 and e-2008 are already on sale in the UK and Europe, powered by an 100kW/260Nm electric motor and offering a 410km range for e-208 and 344km for e-2008. UK prices are about 31,000GBP ($A55,500) for e-208 and 35,000GBP for e-2008 $A62,600).

While Gillis would not engage on price estimates for either of those Peugeots here, she did say that in this market Peugeot is ‘premium’. Given that and the UK pricing, don’t expect either e-208 or e-2008 to come close to challenging the circa-$46K MG ZS EV on price.

Also confirmed for the 2023 cavalcade of new Peugeot arrivals is the 308 GT Sport PHEV Hatch and 508 Sportswagon PHEV. Both are slated for arrival in the first half of 2023, with pricing to be announced closer to launch.

Given the pricing structure of the 3008 PHEV and 508 Fastback PHEV (both launched in March this year) versus their regular petrol-fed versions, a circa-$20,000 price premium should provide a general price indication for the new PHEV models.

This would put 308 Sport Hatch PHEV at about $68,000 and the 508 Sportswagon PHEV at about $85,000.

No high-powered hybrid GT heroes like the 265kW/520Nm Peugeot 508 PSE (Peugeot Sport Engineered) are likely at this point, as pricing already runs into six figures in Euro markets.

What’s coming from Peugeot in 2023:
308 hatch and wagon – now
308 GT Sport PHEV Hatch – H1
508 Sportswagon PHEV – H1
408 range – H2
e-Partner –TBC
e-Expert – TBC
e-Boxer – TBC
e-208 – TBC
e-2008 – TBC
E-308 – TBC

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