Quality pays off for Peugeot

Peugeot 208 has been crowned European Car of the Year. Damien O’Carroll took it for a spin in France.

nervous or you can’t get your head around the whole charging thing, then you won’t miss out by going with the petrol.

Both have the same fantastic interior that features a lot of the same design and tech as the 508 we have raved about here previously, and if Peugeot’s local distributor can pull the same trick it managed with the pricing of that 508 with the 208, then it is on to an absolute winner.

And it is pricing that will probably be the biggest deciding factor between petrol and electric, too.

The EV will be more expensive than the petrol, but quite what that gap will be is yet to be determined.

In terms of the petrol model, Peugeot is aiming the 208 directly at the Audi A1, and will go largely head-to-head with the top spec 35 TFSI S-Line which sells here for $48,900. Peugeot’s New Zealand distributor is aiming to get the 208 GT petrol here somewhere in the ‘‘high $30s’’, which should worry Audi, to be honest.

The A1’s platform-mate – the Volkswagen Polo – heads down the performance route and its ferociously fun GTI is its entrant in the high $30k arena. The dynamically similar Ford Focus ST also drops in at $35,490. Both are awesome, but neither can touch the 208’s level of quality.

Heading further down the price scale, cars like the Mazda2, forthcoming new Toyota Yaris and, the leader in private car sales numbers in New Zealand – the Suzuki Swift – all compete in terms of size and segment, but, again, none offer the 208’s level of quality and equipment.

As for the EV? Only really the Renault Zoe is a direct competitor in terms of size, albeit likely a more expensive one, depending on how much the Peugeot lands here for . . .