Boss says the brand wouldn’t revive GTi just for one car – but all future hot hatches will be electric
Peugeot will flesh out its revived GTi performance line-up with more models beyond the new e-208 hot hatch as part of a push to put “great driving sensations” at the core of its brand positioning.
The e-208 GTi is the latest entrant into a small but growing field of electric hot hatchbacks and will take on the Alpine A290 and Volkswagen ID Polo GTI with 278bhp, a 5.7sec 0-62mph time and a mechanical limited-slip differential.
It is the first GTi hot hatch Peugeot has launched since the previous-generation 308 range-topper arrived in 2017 and now the brand’s CEO, Alain Favey, has told Autocar that the company is planning to follow it up with more performance models bearing the hallowed badge.
Asked if the hot 208 will be part of a new family of performance models, he said: “We would not do it if we didn’t think that we want the GTi badge to continue existing in future. So definitely we will make sure that there is a future for GTI which goes beyond just that one.”
He added that GTi is an important part of Peugeot’s heritage and is being resurrected as part of a push to “position the brand – to say very clearly that Peugeot stands for great driving sensations. That’s part of what we are”.
He stopped short of giving any details as to what form these future hot hatchbacks will take, but said: “The important thing is to make sure that wherever there is a GTI badge, you get an experience that is one of a kind and absolutely the top in the category. So that’s why it might take a few more months to get to that point.”
The next generation of the larger 308, due in around 2028, would seem a likely candidate for a GTi version, given that nameplate has recent performance heritage to leverage – meaning Peugeot could once again offer a rival to the likes of the VW Golf GTI and Cupra Leon.
However the GTi range is expanded, though, Favey said the badge will not be used again for a petrol hot hatch, because emissions penalties in its home market would make it too expensive to be viable.
He said: “France is a big market for us and unfortunately the rules are such that there are extremely heavy CO2 penalties – up to €70,000, so it would make it just impossible to buy.
“So we would have a nice car everybody would love, but it would be just impossible to own – and that would make it completely impossible. And if we don’t have the French market, it’s difficult for us to justify developing a car like that.”
Peugeot revealed the e-208 GTi in June at the Le Mans 24 Hours and will start taking orders at next year’s race before beginning deliveries by the end of 2026.
That means there will be almost 18 months between the unveiling and customer deliveries and the hot hatch will end up being launching not long before the next-generation 208 arrives in 2027 – a lengthy lead time that, Favey said, is testament to Peugeot’s lofty ambitions for the electric GTi.
“That’s just the time it takes to get the car ready,” he said. “We want the car to be really good – really top in its category and really a credible hot hatch – and that’s as long as it takes.”
Acknowledging that the Alpine A290 is the primary benchmark for Peugeot’s engineers, Favey said the e-208 GTi “will definitely be better” than its similarly conceived compatriot – “at least that’s what we hope to be…” he said.
“No, but seriously, one of our reference points, of course, is to be better than this car, and we think we will be,” he added, calling to mind the fearsome historic hot hatch rivalry between the two manufacturers, with the original 205 GTi serving as the closest rival for the Renault 5 GT Turbo, and later the two firms going toe to toe with the 206 GTi and Clio 172.
Source: Autocar
