Peugeot has revealed the first official images of the replacement for the 308, a car which the French firm hopes will revitalise its position in the competitive compact family hatchback segment.
The new car, rather confusingly, will be called the Peugeot 308, flying in the face of Peugeot's time-tested practice of simply adding 1 to the name of the car when it goes up for replacement. The reason for this could be that the logical progression from 308 is 309 -- a name which has already been used by Peugeot on a car it'd probably rather forget.
Anyway, back to the new 308. The first thing you'll notice about the new car is its striking new design, which incorporates what Peugeot describes as an 'evolutionary reinterpretation' of the brand's 'floating' front grille, slim LED headlights and rear lights which seem to take their cue from the Peugeot 208.
The 309 name was out.
At 4.25 metres long, the new car is also shorter than the outgoing 308 and is underpinned by Peugeot's new EMP2 platform, which is said to cut 140kg from the weight of the car. Not only does this improve the car's dynamic performance, but Peugeot also claims that the reduced weight contributes to the car's class-leading CO2 figures -- the most frugal models in the range will emit just 85g/km.
On the inside, the car has been designed around Peugeot's 'i-cockpit' philosophy, which is claimed to offer an intuitive, relaxing driving experience with the compact steering wheel and head-up instrument layout which was first seen on the 208. Many of the buttons on the dashboard have been replaced by a 9.7-inch touchscreen in order to create what Peugeot describes as a 'contemporary and uncluttered cabin.'
The new Peugeot 308 will make its world premiere at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September and will go on sale in the UK in January 2014.
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