Peugeot aims for 10,000

French marque Peugeot will aim to top the 10,000 sales mark Down Under in 2008 via a renewed small car entrant, two new light commercial models and the long awaited 107 light/mini car.

Riding the strength of the light and small car markets in 2006 and 2007, Peugeot exhibited strong growth -- at 8.5 per cent in 2007, ahead of the overall passenger market. Last year's total was 8807 units, 700 cars up on 2006.

And with the 207 light car segment fully on-song and set to be joined by the all-new 308 in its multiple variants this year, the local team is bullish about its chances to break into five-figures.

The outgoing 307 accounted for more than half of the brand's sales Down Under last year. The much improved 308 is expected to at least maintain the 307's momentum and has been keenly priced with carry over sticker pricing on the key entry level 1.6-litre diesel model. Despite a significant upgrade in specification, the price-leading petrol has increased just $500 (see separate story).

But the magic 10,000 mark is unlikely to be breached on the strength of the 307 alone.
In the second half of 2008, the maker will launch its new light commercials Down Under. Jointly developed with Fiat, the car-based Partner and larger Expert van will arrive in the third quarter.

The Expert took out International Van of the Year this year. And with up to 1200kg payload and 5-7 cubic metre capacity it will launch into the key segment in the growing category.

Peugeot Automobiles Australia boss, Rob Dommerson (pictured) told the Carsales network: "We've been working for quite some time on bringing the commercials to the Australian marketplace and now we're in a position to do so -- the Partner and Expert will arrive in the third quarter of this year. Our dealers will be looking at the vehicles in Europe in April and we'll be working on some strategies to bring them to market at that time."

The other major launch in 2008 for the French carmaker will be the long-awaited 107 light/mini car. One of a trio of cars built with shared componentry (the others are Toyota's Aygo and the Citroen C1), the 107 has been an 'on-again off-again' prospect for the local marketplace as the cars' joint production facility in Eastern Europe struggled to cope with European demand.

Though production capacity has been increased, according to Dommerson, supply hiccups will still delay the car's local launch until "mid year".

"We've actually specced the vehicle and priced the vehicle for this market but we still can't quite get our hands on it at this point in time," Dommerson said. "We're hoping to launch it mid year but we're still negotiating.

"This is an important car for us in the marketplace in terms of our demographics. The 207 starts at $19,990 but we don't play under that. We're very keen to get some younger people into the Peugeot brand [via the 107]," he opined.

One other hot-selling prospect for the Aussie new car marketplace will also remain off limits for the French brand for 18 months at least. Dommerson says the company is keen to add the Mitsubishi Outlander-based 4007 softroader to its local offering, but production shortfalls and limited powertrain options currently stand in the way.

No automatic turbodiesel variant of the 4007 is currently offered in Europe. Considered a must for the Australian marketplace, such a model could come on-stream via new production facilities in Russia but not until 2009, Dommerson said.

 » Get the best price on a new Peugeot

To comment on this article click here