First Drive: 2012 Peugeot 208 [w/video]

Filed under: Budget, Europe, Hatchback, Peugeot, Diesel, Quick Spins

Euro Hatch Icon Reclaims Some Of Its Mojo



The challenge of small, efficient and clever hatchbacks catching on with the American masses is a long story that shows infrequent signs of becoming less challenging. The bottom line is that most U.S. consumers feel such vehicles are simply too small for our wide-open-spaces sensibilities. This smallness is only enhanced when one looks around while stopped at American intersections, only to see big and tall sheetmetal in all directions. There are admittedly serious strides being made in this segment in various U.S. markets, usually of the urban variety and on the coasts, but it will always be a struggle.

The last time Peugeot tried directly communicating in American English with imported product was back in 1991 with its 505 and 405 ranges that unceremoniously flopped. There was ongoing talk at that time of bringing over the 205 hatchback to try and improve things, but we missed out and Peugeot was gone. Perhaps the seven percent of PSA Peugeot-Citroën now owned by General Motors will someday result in the importing of the solid hatchback tested here, but I won't hold my breath.

Recently, the new Peugeot 208 was all over the French giant's show stand at the Geneva Motor Show, together with its legendary GTi trim and new XY upmarket trim. Back in 1984, it was the 105-horsepower 205 GTi that established the legend of the French hot hatch. While the 206 was then a smash hit with buyers between 1998 and 2006, the subsequently larger 207 has been far less popular in the face of much improved competitors - a group that blossomed from just 16 different models on the European market in 1998 to now 27 separate hatches today. In its prime, the 206 outsold even the mighty Volkswagen Golf and stayed at the top of Europe's sales charts for a time. The outgoing 207, however, has routinely lingered behind the Volkswagen Golf and Polo, Renault Clio, Opel Astra and Corsa, not to mention the Ford Focus and Fiesta.

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2012 Peugeot 208 [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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