It’s official! The Peugeot 208 GTI is coming back for the next generation
Peugeot will launch a GTI-badged variant of the e-208, new brand boss Alain Favey has confirmed, with the electric hot hatch set to spearhead an effort to “nurture the reputation of the brand for driving sensations”.
It is the first GTI-badged car since the previous-generation Peugeot 308 went off sale in 2021, and Peugeot's first sporty electric car.
Speaking to media today, he said: “I’m in a position to confirm that we will reintroduce the GTI on the e-208 as soon as possible. We’ve made the decision that Peugeot GTI will be reintroduced.”
He added that it is a “signal” about “what it means to reconnect to our past, our history”, and that it would link the brand’s road cars to its involvement in motorsport (through the World Endurance Championship).
“We want to continue to nurture the reputation of the brand for driving sensations and the fact that our cars produce particular driving sensations, either as a driver or as someone that is being driven in the car,” he said.
As for a broader GTI line-up – or a sporting model with a combustion engine – Favey suggested it will depend on customer feedback.
He said: “We will start with the 208 and [are] definitely listening to your inputs, or what our customers will say as well. We don't exclude that there might be other executions of the 208 GTI under the GTI badge, but for today, there's absolutely nothing planned in that sense.
Confirmation of the GTI badge’s return comes after Favey last month said he would consider it as one of his first jobs since taking over as Peugeot CEO.
The new e-208 GTI is most likely to use the same set-up as the Abarth 600e, which is based on the same e-CMP platform as the e-208.
That car gets a 178kW (240hp) motor mounted up front with a Torsen limited-slip differential. It weighs 1625kg and delivers a 0-100km/h (0-62mph) sprint time of 6.2sec.
It’s possible that a lighter and lower-set e-208 equipped with the same powertrain could cut that to below 6.0sec.
The Abarth is also offered with a punchier 210kW (282hp) motor in the limited-run Scorpionissima special edition, leaving room for a special edition in the vein of the previous 208 GTI by Peugeot Sport.
Green-lighting the e-208 GTI is also likely to result in a hot version of the Vauxhall/Opel Corsa Electric, given the two models are twinned.
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