Peugeot Only three months to wait for the 308 (in spite of the chip)

The microchip crisis will have limited impact on the 2022 plans and who orders a new one Peugeot 308 today it should be delivered between the end of April and the beginning of May. This was stated during a meeting with the press by the new CEO of Peugeot Italia, Thierry Lonziano (his grandparents, Italians, migrated to France), who arrived in Turin after his recent role as global head of marketing and communication. In the year just opened, the energy transition will continue with the forecast of a more favorable sales mix for electrified variants which should reach a weight of 20% compared to 15% last year: in essence, one in five machines will be battery or plug-in. in. A point of the situation that is important for Peugeot, given that our country represents the second market in the world for the Lion brand, immediately after France.

An epochal change. “A year ago we announced the birth of Stellantis, within which Peugeot represents one of the historic brands, with its 211 years of life, and of absolute importance in terms of volumes: in the world out of five cars of the group sold, one is Peugeot” , Lonziano remarked, adding: “We are archiving these first twelve months with satisfaction: the market has recovered in part after the blow of 2020, the year of Covid, with an increase of 5% globally. In Europe, the brand is in the top three. But the historical event, if we can say so, of 2021 is represented by the progress of the Levs, that is, of pure electric (Bev, ed) and plug-in hybrids (Phev, ed), which passed from 10 to 25% in the Old Continent. of the mix. So from January 2020, when one in ten cars was electrified, we have reached December when the ratio has become one to four. Never in the car market had there been such an important change due to the introduction of a new technology “.

The picture on this side of the Alps. And where does Italy fit into this picture? With a 6% share, which makes Peugeot the fourth brand on the scene. Ninety-eight thousand vehicles delivered in 2021 (13,750 of which are light vehicles), this is the budget of the Italian branch, and the goal of largely exceeding the threshold of 100 thousand this year. The 2008 company received more consensus (i.e. more orders), with 25,505 new customers, followed by its cousin 208 (23,582) and, third, by the 3008 (20,879). The 308 recorded residual sales of the outgoing model of 3,807 units. “But traditionally it’s our third best-selling car. And we expect him to gradually return to that role, ”Lonziano said. But it ended in a “no comment” on the introduction of the third body variant, from some sources called 4008, of which Quattroruote anticipated the possible features.

Today chooses the customer, tomorrow … “We are very pleased that we have a model in the top three in each category. The e-2008, in particular, is the first in the electric SUV segment in Italy ”, declared the head of Peugeot Italia. As new hybrid or full electric models are added to the portfolio – the next important one will be at the beginning of 2023 the e-308 (with 54 kWh battery – 4 more than the e-2008 -, 156 hp, electric grid from 400 volts and about 400 kilometers of autonomy), the “power of choice”, ie the ability to choose between petrol, diesel and current (or hybrid) the propulsive form that best suits you, will continue to be the typical commercial formula, but progressively the electric natives will take over the range: in 2030 there should no longer be an offer of combustion on new models.