Peugeot wants to build 368kW 308

The boss of Peugeot says he should make a decision on a production future for the spectacular 368kW 308 Hybrid R concept within months.

And Maxime Picat has made it clear he wants to be able to give the project a tick and commit to manufacturing the electrified all-wheel drive mega-hatch.

"Today my position is I am eager to do it," Picat told motoring.com.au during an interview at the Frankfurt motor show this week.

Created by Peugeot Sport, the 308 Hybrid R made its global debut at the Shanghai motor show last April and re-appeared as one of Peugeot's Frankfurt stars this week.

But in between Picat tweeted photos of his boss, PSA Peugot-Citroen CEO Carlos Tavares driving a test mule.

"Yes it was with my smartphone," enthused Picat. "I was the photographer, the quality was not that good I am sorry. It was a good opportunity."

For all his personal enthusiasm about the 308 R Hybrid Picat admitted the car, which combines the new 308 GTI's 200kW engine with two electric motors, won't make it to production unless the numbers add up.

"The question is always the same; to find the good balance between the cost of technology, because it has 500 horsepower, huge batteries and lots of technology in terms of control of the engine.

"We will assess the situation and I hope we will be able to take the decision in the coming months. But it's really something that we are considering.

"The issue is really how many cars you can sell of that kind, because it's really clearly not a normal price or even not a GTI price. It's really the balance for what you can get and what it will cost."

What you get is a claimed 0-100km/h time in just four seconds, a limited top speed of 250km/h and emissions of just 70g/km of CO2.

While Peugeot won't press the green light on the 308 R Hybrid if it is a money loser, the dramatic turnaround in PSA's fortunes gives it a stronger chance of getting across the line if the business case is marginal.

PSA appeared to be spiralling into a financial blackhole 18 months ago when the Chinese manufacturer Dongfeng and the French government injected three billion Euros.

But working to its 'back in the race' recovery plan, PSA posted a five per cent automotive operating margin for the first half of 2015.

"It is not a question of not being able, we have enough money because we are now in good health," Picat said. "We almost recover, we have good first half of the year. So it has to fly, it has to be something that can work.

"It's the question [of] pricing, volume and cost of the technology, because it's not the same to say 'we will make 20 of them and find the people to buy', or say 'ok there is the potential for 20,000 on the lifecycle'.

"So there are many possible scenarios and very different in terms of industrialisation, prices and so on. We have to check if there is a good one and which one is it."

Let's hope from an Australian perspective that it's the latter "20,000" business case that gets up because that would make right-hand drive more likely.

At this stage, Picat said somewhat discouragingly that RHD would be "possible" for the R Hybrid.

Picat explained his positive attitude toward the project was driven by the way it reiterated hybrids are not only good for economy and emissions but also for performance.

"I see in the future electric power from the plug-in hybrid and the electric engine at the rear and the front is really interesting for good driving sensation. I believe that hybrid technology will decrease but still there will be versions that give you excellent driving sensation, which is clearly something that Peugeot is seeking.

"So I would really like to do a proposal like this for our future."