Brian Joss –
While the all-new Peugeot 308 is a new arrival on South African soil, the compact and contemporary hatchback has already established an enviable sales track record in European markets, with more than 220 000 units sold worldwide since going on sale in late 2013.
In less than two years, it’s also received numerous awards and accolades, with the most important being the 2014 European Car of the Year title – one of the most coveted awards in world motoring, and a very real measure of the new 308’s all-round excellence.
The Peugeot 308 was also named Switzerland’s Car of the Year – a particularly fastidious market with an appetite for sophistication and high-tech appeal. Italy, where motorists are passionate about their cars, followed suit.
The 308 also took Car Of The Year honours in Slovakia and Croatia during 2014, while Morocco honoured the French hatchback with its Car Of The Year accolade for 2015. Fleet recognition came in the form of a Best New Car award in the 2014 Fleet World Honours.
In the UK, the new Peugeot 308’s efficiency, economy and interior quality have not gone unnoticed, either: it was named 2015’s Best Company Car by Business Car Manager magazine.
Accolades aside, the new Peugeot 308 has also established a notable world record: setting a new production car fuel economy benchmark, according to Peugeot.
A standard 308 hatchback, equipped with the same 96 kW 1.2-litre PureTech three-cylinder turbo engine fitted to the 308 GT Line in South Africa, covered just more than
1 800 km on a single tank of fuel.
The car, driven under supervision at the Almeira racing circuit in Spain, took 32 hours to complete 1 810 km before the 51.4-litre fuel tank ran dry, recording an astonishing fuel economy figure of just 2.84 litres/100 km in the process, Peugeot said.
