Spotted ( No Pics) Peugeot 308

[Shan2nu]

Was returning from Pune to Hubli this afternoon, when i saw this black Peugeot hatch between Karad and Kolhapur.

It had a 308 tag on it with a red number plate that read some "BYE ###".

I wasn't able to take picks but the front and rear looked like this :

Front - http://www.caranddriver.com/var/ezwe...mage_large.jpg

Rear - http://www.caranddriver.com/var/ezwe...mage_large.jpg

Shan2nu

[tushky]

Today Evening i saw Brand new Black Peugeot 308 on Karve road pune. totally Uncovered with peugeot logo on it. it was with Reg. no. BYE****. sadly could not click the pics because i was at the other side of the road.
so i think finally Peugeot is coming back to India.

[nordmariner]

MOD NOTE: Do not post in bold for no reason. Please read the rules before you proceed.

[pankaj_sachdeva]

Originally Posted by tushky

Today Evening i saw Brand new Black Peugeot 308 on Karve road pune. totally Uncovered with peugeot logo on it. it was with Reg. no. BYE****. sadly could not click the pics because i was at the other side of the road.
so i think finally Peugeot is coming back to India.

The car looks nice to my eyes.

@ MODS : there is another thread with the same topic. You can consider merging both these threads.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...k-peugeot.html.

[ImmortalZ]

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...eot-308-a.html (Spotted ( No Pics) Peugeot 308)

Multiple sightings!

[tushky]

Originally Posted by nordmariner

What was the colour of the number plate...?

no plate was in RED.

[Mpower]

Peugeot is currently conducting a study and will make a decision on their India plans by the end of the year.

[MaserQ]

The slowdown in Europe has forced car makers like Peugeot to look eastward. Lets hope they do make a comeback. Peugeot are ideally suited to the Indian market as they make excellent small cars.

[Shan2nu]

The car looks amazing though.

It was overtaking a Passat and boy was the ground clearence low. It's ride height was almost 50% lower than the VW.

There were 4 guys in the car wearing light blue shirts. The rear lights reminded me of the Swift Dezire.

Shan2nu

[aaggoswami]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Peugeot is currently conducting a study and will make a decision on their India plans by the end of the year.

Correct a news article supporting this.
Source : Peugeot to take final call on facility in India by year-end

Article :

NEW DELHI: The second largest carmaker of Europe, PSA Peugeot Citroen, will take a final call by this year-end on whether to enter India, although sometime back it was determined to set up shop in the country.

The company, which had decided to go slow on starting its operations in India due to the global meltdown, is conducting a feasibility study on rolling out its vehicles here as well as for sourcing opportunities for global operations.

"We are assessing the Indian market now whether we will be present there or not. These are all speculations that we are launching our products. The decision is yet to be taken, which might happen by the end of this year," a PSA Peugeot Citroen spokesperson told PTI from France.

The company is studying the possibility of marketing the Group's vehicles in India, he said, adding that "a decision on the industrial and commercial implantation of Peugeot Citroen in India could be made in 2009".

The study is focusing on areas such as possibilities for industrial production and being able to meet Indian customers' expectations, he said.

"We are also assessing the various opportunities offered by the country in terms of sourcing components," the official said.

Peugeot has to be very very serious because it has a lot of baggage from its previous entry. Peugeo t309 was a great car, a good handler. Happened to drive one that has done around 45K kms. Used rarely by a joint family. The elders from that family drive it. Others have image problem, but the car drives well.
Peugeot still makes the cars that are good in handling department. Most of them have certain amount of enthusiasm which others dont have. Reason why they are No. 2 in Europe. I know its entire group, but off late they are sharing platforms.

The thing peugeot will have to focus most :
1) Diesel engine.
2) GC issue.
3) Delivering GC + good ride without affecting handling. I think they can manage this.
4) Proper placement of product. I mean if they come up with 308, it will be in category of Fabia in India. Price the hatch high and the car will fail. Best is entering with sedans.
5) A.S & S. It can make a huge difference.

[aerohit]

To the person who saw 308 -

Did the vehicle had see through roof like in the pic?

If so, I hope they bring the same style roof here also.

[geeash]

Great to see the car for comeback. Back in early 90's the car was marketed by Fiat PAL. I wonder who is going to come for the rescue this time

[ajmat]

I owned a 309 for 4 years and 60000 miles. It was one of the best drivers car ever owned. However the newer Peugeots are rather dead and d not have the durability of old. Also a lot of reliability issues..

Current diesels are made in a joint venture with Ford if I am correct

[aaggoswami]

Safety ( most of the current line up is 5 star rated by EuroNCAP ) is one of the reason for their dead feeling, but still they are good handling machines. The reliability issue is more electrical than mechanical.

I think they are also into sort of JV for petrol motors with BMW. 1.6 is the 207 is from this JV. Diesel, may be with ford, I am not sure.

This bring the basic issue the cars could face, FE. The cars are quite heavy, even the 207 is in range of 1200-1300, the 1.6 petrol is around 1260kg IIRC. This can have a negative effect on FE and for a hatch this equates to low sales. So they will have to concentrate on diesels, which were once their strength. The 1560cc marketed as 1.6 HDi I suppose is the motor they must bring to India and then larger motors too. Its now old and Peugeot is reported to be working on entirely new generation of engines.

Considering the high weight of its car, if Peugeot fails to live upto FE expectations, they will fare even worse than what they did with 309.

[Shan2nu]

To the person who saw 308 -

Did the vehicle had see through roof like in the pic?

If so, I hope they bring the same style roof here also.

Couldn't see the roof properly as i was sitting in another car.

Shan2nu