The New Peugeot 308 is lighter, leaner, cheaper to live with and looks a whole lot better for it.
Gone is the pronounced ‘nose’ on the bonnet while under the streamlined skin it’s much lighter, powered by new or revised engines and it’s bristling with technology and equipment.
It comes to the UK on 2 January up to £1,400 less than the outgoing model and it promises to be cheaper to run, service and keep with residual values over 9pc better than the current car.
Peugeot UK sales director Neil Moscrop says it handsomely undercuts the rival Volkswagen Golf while its better equipment sets it above the Ford Focus.
“The sector for this car is nearly 70pc fleet sales and we are confident it will have strong appeal,” he said. “95pc of those sales are of diesels but the private or retail sales will see a roughly 50:50 split between petrol and diesel so we will have something for everyone.”
He anticipates selling about 16,000 Peugeot 308 models next year and most of these will be leased to customers opting for the Just Add Fuel scheme which has been an outstanding success for the company as it builds in all costs to a monthly rental and all a driver has to do is put in fuel.
Six out of ten 308 customers are likely to take up the JAF deal which puts them in a new car for deposit price which would buy them an equivalent three or four years old car. Mr Moscrop said that 60pc of JAF buyers renewed when their scheme ended and this had helped drive up Peugeot sales in the UK.
From launch the new 308 will be available with 1.2-litre 82bhp and 1.6-litre e-THP turbo 125 and 156bhp petrol units and with 1.6-litre 92 and 115bhp HDI turbodiesels.
From Spring next year the engine line-up will expand with the arrival of the new 1.2-litre, three cylinder turbocharged 110 and 130bhp petrol units plus two new Blue HDI diesels, a 1.6-litre120bhp unit with CO2 emissions of just 82g/km offering up to 91.1mpg and a 2.0-litre, 150bhp, 108g/km version as well. A new generation six-speed automatic transmission will also join the range.
There are four levels of specification on offer, depending on the engine chosen. The range starts with Access followed by the best selling Active, then Allure and with Feline topping the range. The single best selling new 308 five-door hatchback will have Active specification, accounting for 50% of sales.
The most popular engine for now will be the 1.6-litre 92bp turbo-diesel which will account for 40% of initial orders. So the initial best selling version will be the 1.6 HDI 92bhp Active five-speed manual priced at £17,895.
With the arrival next Spring of the new three cylinder 1.2-litre e-THP 110bhp petrol unit the sales split might change, especially for retail buyers due to its slightly lower price of £17,195 with the same Active specification.
The new 308 C-segment five door hatch back is the first Peugeot to use PSA Peugeot Citroen group’s new EMP2 modular platform which is in use already with the new Citroen C4 Picasso MPV. For the Peugeot 308 it is 140kg lighter than the outgoing range due to its use of lightweight high strength steel, aluminium and composite material structure.
Lighter weight through use of advanced materials and laser welding, in addition to engine improvements, means better performance, better fuel economy and lower emissions all resulting in lower running costs. The engine changes alone also add to considerably better performance overall.
Petrol units offer 45% more torque, 10% more power and 12% less CO2 emissions. Diesel units give 10% more torque, 10% more power and 10% less CO2 output.
The new platform shortens the front overhang of the new 308 over its predecessor so the overall length is reduced slightly to 4,253mm, the height is slightly lower at 1,457mm and the width is 1,800mm so it has a much squatter aerodynamic stance.
Designers have used this to create more passenger room between the front and rear wheels and another bonus of using the new platform is the provision of a much larger boot giving 470-litres of room with the three rear seats in use expanding to 1,308-litres with them folded.
The streamlined, distinctive front end contains 60 LEDs for brilliant headlight illumination of dark roads and its equally eye-catching from the rear as well.
Inside, there is a very simplified fascia with most functions operating through a touch-screen centre display high on the dash alongside the usual speedo and tacho infront of the driver.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I was truly delighted by the best selling Peugeot 308 Allure 92bhp diesel.
The small steering wheel not only eases access but it makes the car sharper handling, while the five-speed gearbox is slick and easy and the brakes powerful.
It not only handled well on twisting roads but had strong pickup, both in country roads and on dual carriageways.
The 308 Allure rode well over some medium to poor surfaces and it was surprisingly quiet which added to the sense of refinement.
Inside, the new simple layout for the fascia left me with mixed feelings. It looks clean and uncluttered but I am not sure that using the touch-screen for multi-tasks would not be distracting, and that is at odds with the raised instrument pod directly infront of the drive and meant to minimise distraction from the road ahead.
We returned on a brief run about 47.1mpg while the more powerful
115bhp diesel in top of the range Feline specification with its six-speed box showed 54.2mpg because it did not have to work as hard.
The different gearbox had a clunkier change action however and the bigger wheels and tyres pushed more firmness and noise into the cabin from the road so it did not feel as sophisticated as its sibling.
Pick-up was stronger and it had a more settled state on the motorway so it’s probably the one most high mileage users would go for.
With comparatively small sales, the 156bhp 1.6 petrol Feline is going to be bought by those who do not cover long distances in a year as it returned just 37.1mpg.
You do get a much livelier and responsive powertrain with the six-speed gearbox, although its still notchy in action, and it has the bigger wheels and tyres so the ride is firmer and you hear them banging over bumps as well.
We tested one of the cars in the dark and can say the new lights are very bright and far-reaching as well as providing wide illumination but with less power consumption and in daylight the low waistline and big windows are a real help when parking.
So long as you stick with smaller wheels and tyres, and providing you only really need the lower powered engine, the new Peugeot 308 is a very sophisticated car, but it loses some of that refinement if the bigger footware is put on.
