Peugeot is giving compact cars a different flavor as it unveiled the mold-breaking 2023 Peugeot 408. The Peugeot 408 offers crossover body clearance with a fastback silhouette set atop of it.
Set for the French automaker’s global markets (likely including the Philippines) next year, the Peugeot 408 comes with traditional crossover styling bits such as the copious black body cladding. However, differentiating it from the rest, it has the brand’s signature fang-shaped lighting signature and LED taillights. In addition, it gets an aggressively sloped roofline along with the prominent grille that’s made to blend with the bumper. The new Peugeot “shield” also makes an appearance here as well.
The all-new Peugeot 408 measures in at 4,687 mm long which is shorter than the previous 408 sedan. Even so, the fastback crossover has a much longer wheelbase (2,787 mm) while also being wider (1,848 mm). Surprisingly, the overall height is 10mm lower than the sedan—1,478 mm.
Inside, the Peugeot 408 features the i-Cockpit design with the compact steering wheel and high-mounted digital instrument cluster. A 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system dominates the center stack.
More on the infotainment, it comes with configurable “i-toggle” switches. There’s also a row of physical controls located beneath the toggles.
For driving aids, the Peugeot 408 achieves Level 2 autonomous driving (it will be deployed via a software update) thanks to its six cameras and nine radars. From the get-go though, it offers functionalities such as adaptive cruise control with stop and go, automatic emergency braking, active lane departure warning and prevention, driver attention alert, road sign recognition, a night vision system, long-range blind spot monitoring, rear traffic alert, a 360-degree camera, and automatic high beam.
As for the powertrains, the Peugeot 408 will not be offered with any diesel. Instead, it’ll come with one purely combustion gasoline-fed engine and two plug-in hybrids.
The petrol variant is dubbed the PureTech 130 S&S EAT8 and features a 1.2 liter turbocharged three-cylinder unit that serves up 130 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 230 Nm of torque at 1,750 rpm. This drives the front wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.
Meanwhile, the plug-in hybrids feature a PureTech 1.6-liter turbo four-cylinder and an electric motor integrated into an eight-speed automatic. The e-motor is rated the same—110 horsepower and 320 Nm, but the output of the 1.6-liter motor determines the final output. The Hybrid 180 e-EAT8 is good for a total of 180 horsepower, while the Hybrid 225 e-EAT8 makes 225 horsepower. In both cases, torque is at a stout 360 Nm.
Charging the on-board lithium-ion battery takes less than four hours when using a wall box AC charger, while using a house socket takes about seven hours.
Keyword: 2023 Peugeot 408 Wants To Fight The Subaru XV, Mazda CX-30 With French Style