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Peugeot to offer high-performance versions of every model – report

Peugeot's future model line-up could be in line for a high-performance hit, with news out of Europe indicating all future models from the French brand will receive a performance variant.


Speaking with British magazine Auto Express, Peugeot CEO Jean-Phillipe Imparato confirmed a raft of high-performance Peugeots are on track to in the coming years.

"With each and every car, starting with 508, I’m aiming to put as an umbrella a performance/sporting version of the car. We will launch at the beginning of 2021 with the 508 Peugeot Sport engineered to send a message to the market", he said.

The go-fast variants will arrive alongside each new model, with the French brand planning to host at least one model launch each year, beginning in 2021 with the unveiling of the next-generation 308 hatch, understood to be scheduled for March.

 

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Above and top: Peugeot 508 Sport Engineered.

Following in the tyre tracks of the 508 Sport Engineered unveiled in September 2020 (above), Peugeot will opt for electrified power to speed up its models, leveraging its EMP2 and CMP modular platforms' plug-in hybrid and all-electric capabilities.

"It puts something on top of our range that sends a message to the world that we don’t want the EV transition to be boring – we want to have fun even if we have CO2 below 50 grams", said Imperato.

"It fits at the same time the upmarket move and the message that we want to bring on electrification."

While specific details have yet to be announced, it's expected the hot 308 – which is understood to wear the 508's Peugeot Sport Engineered badge – will feature the plug-in hybrid powertrain used in the 3008 and 5008 Hybrid4 plug-in SUVs, mating a 1.6-litre turbo-four with two electric motors for all-wheel-drive and a total of 220kW of power.

That's a radical departure from the last high-performance Peugeot 308, the GTi, which sent 200kW and 330Nm from a 1.6-litre turbo four-cylinder (sans electrification) to the front wheels via a six-speed manual transmission.

A performance version of the 208 city car is also understood to be in the works, which could potentially mark the return of the GTi badge.

In a similar interview, Imperato told fellow British publication Autocar an all-new nameplate is in the works for 2023, which could either take the shape of a small, premium-focused city car, or a flagship model positioned above the existing 508 sedan and 5008 SUV.

Note: 208 GTi rendering at bottom of story created by X-Tomi Design.

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Alex Misoyannis

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family.

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