The
Peugeot 308 is a small family car produced by the
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
car manufacturerThe automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....
PeugeotPeugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
. It was unveiled on June 5, 2007 and sales started from September 2007. Its development code was
"Project T7", and is the first car of the X08 generation of Peugeot models. The 308 features a range of petrol and diesel engine options. In March 2011 the 308 received a facelift and had its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show.
Design
Launched as the replacement for the
Peugeot 307The Peugeot 307 is a small family car produced by the French Peugeot manufacturer since 2001. It was awarded the European Car of the Year title for 2002, and continues to be offered in China and certain South American markets through 2009 despite the French launch of the 308 in September...
in most international markets, the new vehicle was based upon the old 307’s chassis, but has new bodywork and is slightly longer and wider. Its
coefficient of dragThe drag coefficient is a common metric in automotive design pertaining to aerodynamic effects. As aerodynamic drag increases as the square of speed, a low value is preferable to a high one...
is 0.29, and it has a five-star Euro NCAP rating. Following the 2011 facelift, the drag-factor was reduced to 0.28.
The 308 HDi holds the Guinness world record of the most fuel-efficient mainstream car currently in production, having averaged 3.13 l/100 km over a distance of 14580 km (9,060 mi), but Peugeot ran foul of British advertising rules by claiming 126 mpgimp in an advert for the car.
The 308 is manufactured in France at the Mulhouse and Sochaux factories, and is also manufactured in
KalugaKaluga is a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population: It is served by Grabtsevo Airport.-History:...
, Russia for the local market since 2010. The 307 remains in production for several countries, especially those that prefer saloon bodies such as Brazil and China as the 308 is not available as a 4-door.
Hatchback
The 308 is available as a 5-door hatchback, with a 3-door limited to a few markets. In 2010, Peugeot announced the return of a GTI model (known as the GT in the UK), featuring a turbocharged 1.6 L engine with 200 bhp.
Estate
A
station wagonA station wagon is a body style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door , instead of a trunk lid...
concept version of the 308, the
Peugeot 308 SW Prologue, was also unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show.The production version was shown at the 78th International Geneva Motor Show in March 2008 and went on sale that summer. The 308 SW (or 308 Touring in Australia) is available in a 5 or 7 seat versions.
A further variation of the X08 chassis used by the 308 is an SUV or a MPV named
3008The Peugeot 3008 is a 5-seater compact crossover unveiled by French automaker Peugeot in May 2009 and presented for the first time to the public in Dubrovnik, Croatia...
.
Cabriolet
A cabriolet with a retractable hardtop known as the
308 CC replaced the Peugeot 307 CC in the spring of 2009. The roof folds into the boot in 20 seconds, and at up to speeds of 7.5 mi/h. With the roof up the boot space capacity is 465 litres but this reduces to 266-litres with the roof down.
Sedan
Peugeot has presented in September 2011 for the Chinese market four-door sedan version of the 308. This version produced for the Chinese market by the Dongfeng is based on 308 facelift but differs from the Model European style with large front grille, more chrome on the hips and different shape of the LED tail lights. The interior is identical to the European model. The engine range includes two petrol 1.6 16V 110 hp and 143 hp 2.0 16V. The trunk has a volume of 502 liters. The 308 sedan joins the 408 in China, characterized by an older sister slightly higher price.
2011 facelift
A facelifted 308 was released in May 2011 following the public launch at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show with a new front end and minor changes to the rear of the vehicle. Peugeot also launched the 308 e-HDI micro-hybrid model with stop-start technology, a system to recover energy during deceleration and a hybrid battery that delivers additional energy on start-up. A full hybrid
3008The Peugeot 3008 is a 5-seater compact crossover unveiled by French automaker Peugeot in May 2009 and presented for the first time to the public in Dubrovnik, Croatia...
was also announced at the same time.
The facelift was also given to 308 SW and 308 CC.
308 Hybrid
BoschRobert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...
announced in 2007 that it is supplying hybrid
diesel-electricDiesel-electric transmission or diesel-electric powertrain is used by a number of vehicle and ship types for providing locomotion.A diesel-electric transmission system includes a diesel engine connected to an electrical generator, creating electricity that powers electric traction motors...
technology to Peugeot for the 308. A prototype 308 equipped with this technology was displayed in the
Frankfurt car show '07The Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung , also known as the Frankfurt Motor Show or Frankfurt Auto Show, is one of the world's largest motor shows. It is held biennially in Frankfurt, Germany. The show occupies 12 buildings.The IAA is organized by the Association of the German Automotive Industry...
and a further 'Prologue' concept car was shown at the 2008 Paris Motor Show featuring a 1.6-litre HDi engine to turn the front wheels and an electric motor to turn the rears.
308 RCZ Coupe
Peugeot presented a 2+2
coupéA coupé or coupe is a closed car body style , the precise definition of which varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, and over time...
concept carA concept vehicle or show vehicle is a car made to showcase new styling and or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced....
development of the 308, the
308 RCZThe Peugeot RCZ is a sports car manufactured by Peugeot. It has been on sale since May 2010 and is currently available in almost 80 countries.It was officially introduced at the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2009 and was initially announced as the 308 RCZ concept car at the 2007 Frankfurt show...
, at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. This coupé concept is 18 mm lower than the standard car. It has similar proportions to the
Audi TTThe Audi TT is a two-door sports car manufactured by the German automaker and Volkswagen Group subsidiary Audi since 1998.The Audi TT has been produced in two generations. Both generations have been available in two car body styles; as a 2+2 Coupé, or two-seater Roadster...
. The final production model was unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show as the RCZ without the 308 name, and went on sale in the spring of 2010.
Sales numbers
| Year |
Sales |
| 2007 |
82,500 |
| 2008 |
290,100 |
| 2009 |
252,100 |
Source:
External links