Price decreases imminent for Peugeot 208 and 2008

In an early substantive change by Peugeot’s new Australian distributor Inchcape, pricing has been adjusted gently downwards, by between $300 and $1,490, for the 2017 Peugeot 208 hatch and the 2017 Peugeot 2008 small SUV. The pair of city-focussed cars will now start from $22,190 and $25,490 respectively, before on-road costs.

British firm Inchcape, who among other Australian interests also import Subaru and own the well-known Trivett chain of dealers, acquired the rights to distribute Peugeot – and sister brand Citroën – from Malaysia’s Sime Darby in June. Under Sime Darby’s management sales figures for both French brands fell quite consistently, due partially to inappropriately high prices that turned buyers away.

Today’s downward adjustments on the 208 and 2008 represent three to five per cent decreases in list pricing. Undoubtedly, this move will help. But the 208 in particular will continue to face very stiff competition from the similarly-sized, but considerably cheaper, Volkswagen Polo. The South African-built Polo, due for replacement next year, is currently being offered in two well-equipped trims for $16,990 and $19,990 driveaway, with automatic models commanding an extra $2,500.

Effectively, the 81kW, turbo three-cylinder, auto-only 208 range goes without a true base model to compete with the $19,990 Polo Urban automatic. The Peugeot’s Active base model, which starts at $22,190 before on-road costs, is priced like a $22,490 (driveaway) Polo Urban Plus. The Active falls by just $300 in this update.

The 208 is even more generous with equipment, adding electric folding mirrors and a tyre pressure monitoring system, alongside similar levels of kit to the aforementioned Polo: you get 16-inch alloys, a 7-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a leather wheel with audio and cruise controls.

From there, it’s a step to the 208 Allure ($24,990 – down by $1,300), which adds autonomous emergency braking, parking sensors, satellite navigation, dual-zone climate control, a front armrest and chrome mirrors, plus automatic lights and wipers.

The sporty-looking 208 GT Line ($26,990 – down by $1,300) basically just adds 17-inch alloys, while the best bang-for-buck int he 208 range is the performance-orientated $29,990 208 GTi, which has a cracking 153kW 1.6-litre turbo four under the bonnet. The GTi price is unchanged.

Meanwhile, in small SUV territory, the 81kW three-cylinder 2008 is decent value. It now starts from $25,490 for the Active base model, which is a $1,000 reduction. The 2008 Active is generally well-equipped, with rear parking sensors, a reversing camera, a 7-inch touchscreen, 16-inch alloys, and LED taillights.

Compared to a similarly-priced Mazda CX-3 Maxx ($24,890), the 2008 misses out on digital radio and sat nav, but adds folding mirrors, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and sports fronts seats.

The mid-specification 2008 Allure ($29,990, a reduction of $1,000), adds autonomous emergency braking and Peugeot’s Grip Control differential, automated parking with front sensors, dual-zone climate control, satellite navigation, 17-inch alloys, plus automatic wipers and lights, and cornering fog lights.

The racy 2008 GT Line ($31,500, down $1,490) sees the biggest discounts of this update, and adds red cabin highlights, black mirrors, and a leather/mesh cloth interior to set it apart from lower-rung 2008 models.

Metallic paint for all the aforementioned cars also falls by $400 to a more reasonable $590.