Peugeot 208
The Peugeot 208 is a supermini produced by the French automaker Peugeot, and unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2012. The first 208 models were three door hatchbacks produced in November 2011, at the company's new plant in Slovakia. In June 2012, as five door hatchbacks became available, production of the 208 also commenced at Peugeot's French plants at Mulhouse, and at Poissy.
First generation (2012)
Specification and design
The 208, developed under code name "A9", is built on the PSA PF1 platform and the weight is to be reduced by compared with the 207 and still offer more space than the predecessor.The boot offers of space, more than the 207, and the leg room in the rear seat increases. The design was led by Pierre Authier, with Sylvain Henry as exterior designer.
The interior design is by Adam Bazydlo, and the colour and trim is by Marie Sanou. The car features a tablet computer like screen, and panoramic glass roof surrounded by LED lights. The car is relatively aerodynamic with a drag coefficient, Cd, of 0.29.
Engines
All the petrol engines comply with the Euro 5 norm and the diesel engines have emissions of 99 g/km or lower. In addition to the four cylinder petrol engines carried over from the previous model, from September 2012, the 208 has been offered with two new three cylinder units with variable valve timing – the 1.0 VTi and 1.2 VTi.The 1.0 comes with an advertised fuel consumption of, and a emissions value of 99 g/km. A 1.2 L three cylinder is available with a turbocharger designated as the PureTech 110 S&S or without designated PureTech 82 S&S.
This engine is coupled to a five speed manual or a six speed automatic. The 208 GTi is fitted with a 1.6 litre turbo four cylinder in line turbo petrol Prince engine producing at 5,800 rpm and of torque at 1,700 rpm, and is fitted with a six speed manual transmission.
This first GTi model has since been replaced by the 208 GTi by PeugeotSport which is directly derived from the limited edition '30ème Anniversaire Edition' which put out 208 bhp with revised suspension and an optional two tone paint job, along with a facelift of the original bumpers and other small changes.
The GTi's Prince engine is shared with the Mini and various Citroëns.
The range of diesel units starts with the four cylinder 1.4 e HDi unit, originally introduced in 2010 for the 207, which provides of power coupled, in the 208, with published fuel economy and emission figures of and 87 g/km.
Trims
The 208 comes with a range of trims and specs. Starting from the entry model as of 2019:- Active – Available with either a 1.2L Puretech 82 S&S Petrol or a 1.5L BlueHDi Diesel, both come with a five speed manual.
- Signature – Comes with the same engine and gear box as the active but has different styling and alloys.
- Tech Edition – As well as coming with the same engine as the active and signature it also comes with two additional engine variants. A 1.2 litre Puretech 110 turbocharged manual and a automatic version known as the EAT6, both three cylinders
- GT-Line – This is the top of line model that is available from Peugeot. Coupled with the 1.2L 110 engines both six speed automatic and manual as well as the 1.5 litre diesel. This trim offers all the styling of a hot hatch, it has 16" alloys which are diamond cut.
- GTi – As of 2019, this model is not available to purchase from Peugeot.
Second generation (2019–present)
The second generation Peugeot 208 was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2019, and officially went on sale across Europe over the summer. A fully electric version, named e-208, was also revealed at Geneva. The 208 offers a choice of powertrains, using conventional petrol or diesel engines, or an electric motor.e-208 battery-electric
Unlike competing contemporary vehicles such as the Renault Zoe and Volkswagen ID.3, the e-208 shares a common chassis with the conventional petrol/diesel-powered 208. Peugeot chose this deliberately to enable potential buyers to select the drivetrain that best suits their requirements. This also allows Peugeot to assemble the e-208 on the same line as the other versions. Compared to the conventionally-powered versions of the 208, the e-208 is approximately heavier and has a slightly wider rear axle, to accommodate the battery pack.The e-208 has a heat-pump controlled 50 kWh battery, a motor, and a 6.6 kW charger. WLTP range is. It is equipped with a CCS Combo type 2 connector, and can charge at a rate of up to 100 kW from a suitable DC fast-charging station. Charge rate can be 70kW up to 40% state of charge, then decreasing to 50kW. The onboard charger is limited to 7.4 kW, but may be equipped with a three-phase 11 kW charger as an option. In the e-208, the gear selector is used to choose the level of regenerative braking.
Shortly after it went on sale in October 2019, demand for the e-208 was strong. Peugeot had anticipated making approximately 30,000 e-208 cars per year, 10% of the planned annual production of 300,000 for the entire 208 product line, but of all preorders received were for the e-208. Maximum production for the e-208 is 60,000 per year.
Technical
The drivetrains and platform of the 208 are shared with the Peugeot 2008, the Citroen DS 3 Crossback and Vauxhall Corsa.The conventional petrol engines branded "PureTech" are all 1.2 litre, three cylinder turbos with 74, 99 and 128bhp. The diesel model will come in just one engine variant, a 1.5 litre four cylinder engine producing 99bhp. Peugeot have yet to announce the sport models and what engine they will be using, such as the GTi which has been part of the family of the 208. However, Guillaume Clerc, the project manager for the second-generation 208, stated that development of a petrol 208 GTi ended in 2017 because it was impossible to meet the corporate average emission targets with the larger 1.6-litre engine used in the previous-generation 208 GTi. Clerc hinted the next GTi could be based on the e-208.
The 208 and e-208 are available with optional advanced driver-assistance systems, featuring adaptive cruise control, lane centering, automatic parking, and blind spot monitoring. Models equipped with a manual transmission feature cruise control down to a minimum speed of ; the automatic and e-208 models can control the car down to a stop.
Motorsport
208 T16 Pikes Peak
In April 2013, a 208 T16 was tested by Sébastien Loeb at Mont Ventoux. Loosely based on the shape and design of the production 208, the T16 is a lightweight vehicle that uses the rear wing from the Peugeot 908, and has a 3.2 litre, twin turbo V6 engine, developing and 0-100 km/h in just 1.8s with the aim of competing at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.At Pikes Peak on 30 June 2013, Sébastien Loeb used the 208 T16 to break Rhys Millen's record time, set in 2012 on the first fully paved roads in the history of the competition. The previous record of 9:46.164 was shattered, and a new record time of 8:13.878 was set.
The car also won the hillclimbing race, at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed in June 2014.
Racing
In 2018, a Peugeot 208 GTi 30th Edition model won the overall award in the inaugural Classic Sports Car Club Turbo Tin Tops Series, for forced induction front wheel drive cars.Rallycross
won the manufacturers title at the FIA World Rallycross Championship in November 2015. Jérôme Grosset-Janin was runner up in the FIA European Rallycross Championship in the same year.Rally
won the Finnish Rally Championship in 2015 and 2016.Sales and production
Peugeot announced the 300,000th 208 was produced in February 2013.| Year | Worldwide production | Worldwide sales | Notes |
| 2011 | 631 | ||
| 2012 | 242,900 | 220,800 | Total production reaches 243,600 units. |
| 2013 | 333,800 | 334,439 | Total production reaches 577,400 units. |